By Ian Dunt

Lib Dem support has fallen to just nine per cent, its lowest level since 1997, according to a new poll.

The latest YouGov survey has Labour and the Conservatives neck-and-neck on 40% each. Other parties are on ten per cent.

The result suggests Lib Dem support continues to slide, as the party’s MPs turn their back on a pre-election promise not to support any rise in tuition fees.

Universities minister David Willetts told the Commons yesterday that the government had decided to cap fees at £9,000 – three times the current level.

The decision prompted angry scenes among student groups, who constitute a significant portion of Lib Dem electoral support.

But the survey will disappoint Lib Dems, who had started to see some control in their downward slump, with recent polls putting them at 13%.