Tories extend poll lead

David Cameron with wife Samantha. The Tories have extended their opinion poll lead over Labour
12 April 2012

The Tories have extended their lead over Labour in the aftermath of the Budget, the latest opinion poll has indicated.

But David Cameron is still short of the support he would need to win an outright Commons majority, the ICM survey for the News of the World found.

The Tories were on 39%, up one point on last week, while Labour was down one on 31%. The Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 19%.

It follows Wednesday's Budget by the Chancellor Alistair Darling, and news last Monday that Mr Cameron's wife Samantha is expecting another baby.

The Budget does not appear to have helped Labour's prospects at the expected May 6 general election. About 24% of people said they are now less likely to vote for the party, while only 9% said they were more likely.

But the Tories' eight-point lead is not enough to secure the majority of MPs the Conservative leader needs to form the next government without doing deals with smaller parties.

The News of the World said the poll margin would give the Tories 309 seats, 17 short of an overall majority but still 44 more than Labour.

However, a YouGov survey for the Sunday Times suggested Labour had narrowed the gap from seven to five points in the past week.

It put the Tories down one on 37%, Labour up one on 32%, and the Lib Dems unchanged on 19%. But there was dissatisfaction with the Budget, it found, with 51% saying it was bad.

ICM interviewed 1,003 adults by telephone on March 24 and 25, 2010. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results weighted to the profile of all adults. YouGov interviewed 1,533 voters across Britain online on March 25 and 26.

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