BORIS Johnson’s Tories have opened up a 14-point lead over Labour ahead of the General Election, according to the latest UK poll published yesterday.
Conducted by Survation, the survey suggests the Prime Minister is on course to win the December 12 vote. Carried out from November 14 to 16, it put support for the Conservatives on 42%, compared to 28% for Labour.
It also found support for the Brexit Party had nosedived to just 5%, after leader Nigel Farage’s announcement that they would not field any candidates in seats the Conservatives are defending. The Survation poll put LibDem support at 13% with the Greens on 3%. Researchers surveyed 1010 adults by telephone, asking for their voting intention in the poll conducted for ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
It was the first electoral poll to give respondents a prompt. Names of the parties and candidates in their constituency were read out to participants, in a bid to reflect the impact of parties standing down in certain areas.
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Survation – which correctly forecast the hung parliament in 2017 – pointed out that at the same stage of that campaign, the Tories were 17 points ahead.
That suggests that Labour could still dramatically narrow the gap in the three-and-a-half weeks left until polling day.
Elsewhere in the poll, Johnson has a clear lead over Jeremy Corbyn on who the public believe would make the best prime minister – 47% to 17%. In a further boost for the PM, Brexit is seen as the most important issue in the election among voters, although the NHS takes top slot with Labour supporters.
Johnson has said only a Tory majority will ensure the UK will leave the EU by the end of January. Labour, which is promising another referendum next summer, wants to shift the debate on to domestic areas.
Overall, Brexit was the key topic for 34% of the 1010 people polled, with the NHS on 14% and the economy on 4%. Asked who has had the best election campaign so far, 26% said the Conservatives, 14% went for Labour and 10% said LibDem. The Survation poll did not provide specific data for Scotland.
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