Labour is advancing at the expense of the Conservatives for the first time in the general election campaign, a series of polls released last night reveal.
Four separate polls conducted by firms for Sunday newspapers have found Jeremy Corbyn’s party has slashed Theresa May’s lead to between nine and 13 percentage points.
The Tories’ lead was as high as 20 percentage points in April, and crucially the four polls were conducted after the party’s manifesto launch on Thursday.
The four polls found:
Peter Barnes, the BBC’s senior elections and political analyst said: “For the first time it looks as though the latest Labour rise is coming at the expense of the Conservatives.”
But Barnes cautioned: “As ever, the figures should be treated with caution. It’s particularly worth noting that none of the most recent polls come from the companies that tend to put Labour on a lower figure.”
None of the polling firms which released data on Saturday reflect lower turnout among Labour voters in their methodology.
It comes as the HuffPost-Edelman focus group series found this week that traditional Labour voters feared personal retribution for their decision to back the Conservatives.