May’s lead cut in polls ahead of election

– Prime Minister Theresa May’s lead in the polls has fallen to five percentage points, a new low less than two weeks ahead of a June 8 election, but her personal rating recovered slightly in the days since the Manchester suicide bombing.

May called the snap election to strengthen her hand in negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union and to win more time to deal with the impact of the divorce.

If she does not handsomely beat the 12-seat majority her predecessor David Cameron won in 2015, her electoral gamble will have failed. When she called the election, polls showed she was as much as 23 percentage points ahead.

In the first opinion poll to be published since Monday’s suicide bombing in Manchester, the lead of May’s Conservatives dropped to five percentage points from nine points on Saturday and 18 points two weeks ago.

The Conservatives saw their support fall to 43% from 44%, while the opposition Labour Party increased support to 38% from 35%, the YouGov poll carried out on May 24 and 25 showed.