Tories and Labour neck and neck as Ukip support slips

THE Conservatives and Labour have drawn neck and neck in the polls as Ukip’s support continues to fall.

Nigel Farage’s party is being squeezed as election day approaches and is now on just 10 per cent, its lowest showing since 2013, according to a new ComRes survey for the Daily Mail and ITV News.

Labour and the Conservatives have both advanced since last month and are level at 35 per cent. It is the best Tory showing since November 2012, suggesting last week’s Budget has gone down well with voters. Any jubilation will be tempered, however, by Labour’s showing – 35 per cent is its best vote share for six months.

It is the third poll in recent days to put the two main parties neck-andneck, suggesting the election race is deadlocked. Today’s findings represent the highest combined two-party vote share since September 2013.

Ukip is down three points since last month to its lowest position in a ComRes poll since December 2013. The pollster said the party had suffered a ‘rapid decline’, falling from its peak of 19 per cent as recently as late last year.

In recent days, Ukip has been in crisis after the expulsion of one parliamentary candidate over allegations of expenses fraud, the suspension of another and the resignation of a third who complained of ‘open racism and sanctimonious bullying’.

The Liberal Democrats remain on a miserable 8 per cent, down from the 23 per cent they won in 2010, with the Greens snapping at their heels on 7 per cent.

Despite being level with Labour on voting intention, the poll finds that the Conservatives are in a strong position on the crucial issue of the economy. Some 45 per cent of voters now think the economy would be better off under David Cameron and George Osborne, compared to 34 per cent who think the same of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls.

In particular, 43 per cent think their family’s financial situation would be better off under the Conservative pair, compared to 33 per cent who think the same of Mr Miliband and Mr Balls. Britons think Mr Osborne would make a better Chancellor than Mr Balls by 42 per cent to 32 per cent.

However, many voters still complain they are not feeling better off than in 2010, when the coalition came to power. Although two in five adults – 40 per cent – think the state of the economy has improved since 2010, people are more likely to think their family’s financial situation is worse than better compared to five years ago, by 33 per cent to 24 per cent. Mr Cameron has a commanding lead over Mr Miliband on who would make the better prime minister after May, by 49 per cent to 33 per cent. Extraordinarily, 24 per cent of those intending to vote Labour think Mr Cameron would be better.