Tory lead is slashed in half after tax U-turnewsdx

DAILY MAIL,23RD APRIL,

2017 - Theresa May’s hopes of winning a landslide Election victory suffered a major blow last night after her poll lead plummeted to 11 per cent amid the row over her tax and pensi on plans.

A Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday put the Conservatives on 40 per cent, followed by Labour on 29 per cent and the Lib Dems and Ukip level on 11 per cent.

It means Mrs May’s lead over Jeremy Corbyn has nearly halved in four days: a poll immediately after she called the Election gave the Tories a 21-point advantage.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice said the Survation figures would give Mrs May a Commons majority of 46, an improvement on her current working majority of 17, but way below some forecasts of a 140-seat majority.

The Conservative slump follows the threat to drop existing pledges not to increase tax and to guarantee a minimum 2.5 per cent annual rise in pensions. The backlash was further fuelled by Mrs May’s surprise announcement that she will not abandon the Party’s controversial promise to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid. The Mail on Sunday poll is the only one to have been conducted after all three stories broke, and shows voters are less likely to vote Tory as a result. The Prime Minister spurned three opportunities yesterday to contradict claims that she will drop David Cameron’s 2015 Election pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT until 2020. Put on the spot repeatedly at an election hustings in Dudley, West Midlands, she avoided giving a direct answer, merely stressing the Tories were a party of ‘low taxation’.