Tories win ten-point swing

Tuesday, 18 March 2008 12:00 AM

The Conservatives have extended their lead to 13 per cent in ICM's latest poll.

Carried out over the weekend for the Guardian, the weighted survey of 1,003 adults showed the biggest monthly swing since the 2005 election.

Labour drop five points from 34 per cent to 29 per cent, while the Conservatives gain five points from 37 per cent to 42 per cent.

According to Guardian projections this would give the Tories 355 seats in the Commons, a sizeable majority comparable to Labour's current dominance in the lower house.

The newspaper suggests the government's economic woes are behind the sudden slump in support.

Thirty-two per cent of voters said they preferred Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, but 40 per cent backed David Cameron and George Osborne as their preferred team to tackle the current slowdown.

Analysts say this reversal from the government's seven-point advantage on the economy since January means the Budget did not win over voters.

Although there were only minor real-term changes to public spending and taxation levels its much-trailed 'green Budget' status disappointed environmentalists.

Economists expressed concern about the optimistic nature of the chancellor's economic forecasts and their worries appear to have been picked up by the poll's respondents.

The Liberal Democrats remained steady at 21 per cent, while other parties kept their eight per cent share of the vote.

Increasing support for the Conservatives reflected an earlier poll by ICM carried out for the News of the World on March 12th and 13th, immediately after the Budget.

That showed the Conservatives winning a nine-point lead over Labour, with the Tories on 40 per cent, Labour on 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 20 per cent.

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