Tories recover to five-point lead
By politics.co.uk staff
Two polls have given the Conservative a five-point lead after the second leaders’ debate on Thursday.
Instant polling suggested David Cameron had narrowly beaten Nick Clegg, with Gordon Brown showing an improved performance. The first conventional polling to have taken place since then shows Labour and the Lib Dems in a close fight for second place.
The Sun’s poll by YouGov was relatively unmoved, with both the Conservatives on 34% and Labour on 29% remaining unchanged. The Liberal Democrats advanced by one point to 29%, tying with Labour.
A poll in the Mail by Harris had the same figures for the Conservatives, but these represented greater shifts. The Tory 34% was a three-point bump, while the Lib Dems slipped one per cent to 29%. Labour remained unchanged on just 26%.
According to the Harris poll, which saw 1,048 people interviewed on Thursday night and yesterday, one-third of Britons would like to see a Conservative majority as the result of the general election.
A hung parliament was close behind, however, on 28%, with only 21% backing a Labour majority and 18% a Lib Dem government.
