Conservative lead cut to seven points

The Conservative lead over Labour has been cut to seven points, according to a poll released today.

The ComRes survey for The Independent is the latest in a series of polls to put David Cameron's advantage below 10 points, and raises the prospect of a hung Parliament after the general election.

The new poll put the Tories on 38% (unchanged since a similar poll last month), Labour on 31% (up two points), the Liberal Democrats on 19% (no change), and other parties on 12% (down two). The Tory lead was down from nine points to seven.

According to The Independent, these figures would leave Mr Cameron 24 seats short of an overall majority if repeated in the general election, which must be held by June 3.

The poll suggested the public have some doubts about the Tories' economic policies, with 82% saying Mr Cameron should be clearer over what he would do about the economy.

Only 24% of those questioned said the recession would have ended earlier if the Tories had been in power, while 69% disagreed.

But only 40% said they trusted Mr Brown more than Mr Cameron to help Britain's economy to recover, while 52% did not.

And just 37% believe Labour can take the credit for getting Britain out of recession, against 59% who do not.

* ComRes interviewed 1,001 British adults between January 29 and 31.