Shock poll shows Labour just a point behind Tories as UK polling day nears

A SHOCK poll shows British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn narrowing Prime Minister Theresa May’s election lead to only one point – with just days to go before Thursday’s UK general election.

It puts the Tories on 40% and Labour on 39%, giving Mrs May a wafer-thin lead that is 11 percentage points down on a similar poll taken only two weeks ago.

The Survation poll, which was taken just yesterday for the Mail on Sunday in London, found that the change had come despite the fact that Mr Corbyn has been damaged by his opposition to nuclear weapons – and that a huge majority of voters are appalled by his expressed views on the IRA. However, another development shows just how volatile the electorate is in the last week of the campaign.

The MoS also organised a separate Survation poll to check the effects of the TV debate. For this survey 60% of the 1,653 respondents gave their answers before that debate ended. Interestingly, this poll, gave the Tories a four-point lead. It had the Tories on 42% and Labour at 38%.

Survation boss Damian Lyons-Lowe said: ‘Expectations for Corbyn are so low that if he does averagely, his ratings go up. Expectations for May are so high that if she performs averagely her ratings go down.’ If yesterday’s poll, of 1,049 adults online, is accurate, Mrs May would lose her majority, throwing Brexit talks into confusion.

Combined, the two Survation polls give the Tories a three-point lead.

The company said that its polling yesterday pointed to a Tory advantage of just 10 seats.

Two other polls last night put the Tory lead at six and 12 points, which would be enough to give Mrs May an increased majority.