Tories post 16 point lead over Labour

The Tories have maintained their solid lead lead over Labour, posting a 16 point lead in a new poll.

The government could expect 40 per cent of the public to vote for them, were an election held tomorrow, whereas Labour could expect backing of 24 per cent. The Conservatives’ position has not changed, and Labour has decreased two points.

In the YouGov poll, the Liberal Democrats are stable on 11 per cent while UKIP have gained two points to move to 14 points. Other parties have seen no change at 11 per cent.

The polling was conducted on 5 and 6 February, before Jeremy Corbyn cornered Theresa May over the social care crisis in one of his best performances at prime minister’s questions – with leaked texts suggesting that the Tories had offered Conservative-run Surrey council a “sweetheart deal” to avoid an embarrassing referendum on raising council tax.

This was also at a time when Labour’s internal strife on Brexit was particularly visible – with four members of the shadow cabinet resigning to vote against article 50.