Labour edges into the lead
By Ian Dunt
Labour has edged ahead of the Conservatives following the spending review, according to a new poll.
The ComRes poll for the Independent put the opposition on 37%, two points ahead of the Tories on 35%.
It is the second national poll to put the party ahead of the government since the spending review.
It is the first time since 2007 that ComRes poll has put Labour ahead since the ‘Brown bounce’, a short lived boost in popularity the former prime minister enjoyed when he entered Number 10.
There was good news for the Liberal Democrats, whose slump in the polls seemed to be coming to a halt. The party was up two points on 16%.
Voters continued to express disenchantment with the party however. Only 60% of those who voted Lib Dem in the last election said they would do so again, compared to 95% for the Tories and 93% for Labour.
Twenty-seven per cent of those who voted Lib Dem said they would not give their support to Labour.
The figure confirms suspicions that Ed Miliband has positioned Labour so it capitalise on disenchanted left-wing Lib Dem voters, who deserted Labour over the war in Iraq and civil liberties.
