Miliband’s ‘Paxo bounce’ gone as Tories draw level

Four-point lead was just a blip, says The Sun: but Labour are polling way ahead in London

Columnist Don Brind

The Sunday Times YouGov poll giving Labour a four-point lead over the Conservatives – suggesting voters liked Ed Miliband’s feisty performance opposite Jeremy Paxman – has now been written off as a “blip”.

A new YouGov survey for The Sun shows Labour and the Tories tied on 35 per cent. "Ed Miliband's Paxo 'bounce' was actually a blip; level pegging yet again,” tweeted the paper’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn.

Article continues below

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Two other new polls also show a tight race. Populus have Labour and Tories tied on 34 per cent: Con 34 (up 3), Lab 34 (down 1), Lib Dems 8 (down 1), Ukip 15 (up 1), Greens 4 (down 1).

The new Ashcroft national poll released yesterday gives the Tories a two-point lead over Labour. Con 36 (up 3), Lab 34 (up 1), Lib Dems 6 (down 2), Ukip 10 (down 2), Greens 7 (up 2).

So, the national picture remains neck-and-neck. But Labour are doing particularly well in the key battleground of London, according to a ComRes poll for ITV.

It puts Labour 14 points ahead of the Tories, by 46 to 32 per cent. That’s a six per cent swing since 2010 and according to ITV: "Six Tory seats could fall to Labour with another three on a knife-edge.”

The poll suggests there’s been a collapse in Lib Dem support in the capital, which would see boith Labour and the Tories picking off Lib Dem MPs – “leaving Business Secretary Vince Cable as the sole MP".

is a former BBC lobby correspondent and Labour press officer who is watching the polls for The Week in the run-up to the 2015 election.