Conservatives enjoy biggest poll lead since 2010

THE Conservatives have gained their most substantial poll lead since 2010 in the wake of the Budget, according to one poll.

The latest Opinium survey for the Observer put the Tories up three points to 36 per cent, with Labour down two to 33, Ukip on 1 , the Lib Dems on 7 and the Greens on 6.

David Cameron and George Osborne have a considerable lead on handling the economy, preferred by 2 per cent of voters, compared with the 21 per cent who back Ed Miliband and Ed Balls.

Opinium’s Adam Drummond said: ‘It cer- tainly looks like George Osborne’s Budget and the positive Press reaction have given the Conservatives a boost.

‘More impressively – for a man who was memorably booed at the Paralympics – George Osborne appears to have achieved a remarkable turnaround in public opinion.

‘This is no doubt helped by the fact that more voters think the economy is doing well than at any point in our tracking for this parliament.’ Mr Drummond added: ‘Along with David Cameron’s strong approval ratings the economy, and by extension George Osborne’s handling of it, is overwhelmingly the Tories’ strongest asset going into the election.’

However, a Survation poll carried out for The Mail on Sunday found no evidence of a ‘Budget bounce’, and showed Labour ahead on 3 points, the Tories on 30, Ukip on 17 and the Lib Dems on 10 per cent.

According to the ICM/Telegraph Wisdom Index poll, the Tories are on course to achieve 32 per cent of the vote, one point ahead of Labour’s 31 per cent. The poll, which asks par- ticipants to predict the outcome of the election rather than how they intend to vote, confirmed that Ukip is losing ground and is forecast to receive 13 per cent of the vote. ÷BRITAIN must choose between a £56billiona-year hit or continuing to offer open borders to European migrants if it chooses to leave the EU, a think-tank has warned.

Open Europe said an exit would lead to a dent in national income of 2.23 per cent by 2030, with export tariffs of up to 10 per cent. The only way to avoid this would be a free trade deal, allowing free movement of workers.