Swing away from Labour since 2001
A poll commissioned by The Daily Telegraph has discerned a three percentage point swing from Labour to the Conservatives since the last general election in 2001.
Pollsters YouGov collated data from nearly 22,000 people since January and found Labour on 36 per cent, down six points from 2001.
The Tories were unchanged on 33 per cent with the Liberal Democrats up three on 22.
Should the poll reflect results at the next general election, expected to take place on May 5, the Tories are unlikely to overturn Labour’s majority
A three per cent swing across the country to the Tories would hand Michael Howard’s party an extra 20-30 seats, YouGov forecasted.
Labour would see its majority whittled away to about 85-100 seats, substantially down on its majority of 161.
Yougov found the biggest swing (seven per cent) from Labour to the Tories was in London, home to many marginal seats.
Northerners were also dissatisfied with the Government, with the North showing a six per cent swing away Labour.
In Scotland, there was a five per cent swing from Labour to the Scottish National Party.
The poll also makes grim reading for the traditional wing of the Labour Party after Yougov found support for the Government among manual workers and their families had slumped since 2001.
Yougov also noted a swing of less than two points from the Tories to the Lib Dems.
Tony Blair is expected to announcement of the election date tomorrow. He was due to make it today but decided instead to mark the passing of Pope John Paul II, who died on Saturday.
Separately, a poll by CommunicateResearch for The Independent on Sunday found Labour’s 12-point advantage over the Tories cut by half from just a week ago.
The poll found 40 per cent of the 1010 people polled backed Labour, down three points from last week.
The Tories moved up three points to 34 per cent, with Lib Dems down one point on 16 per cent.
