Tories have biggest lead over Labour since Thatcher's heyday

Blackleaf

The Tories have opened up their biggest lead over bumbling Labour since 1987.

This comes the week before local elections in England & Wales.

If a General Election was held now, the Tories would win with a 50-seat majority, if it went according to the poll..

Tory lead over Labour hits 21-year high

By Andrew Porter, Political Editor and Robert Winnett
24/04/2008
The Telegraph

Conservatives: 44%
Labour: 26%
Liberal Democrats: 17%

The Conservatives have opened up their biggest opinion poll lead since Margaret Thatcher's heyday.

David Cameron's Tories now have an 18 point lead according to a YouGov poll for today's Daily Telegraph, which discloses the extent to which Labour's electoral prospects have been damaged by the 10p tax revolt.

Support for Labour has dropped by three percentage points in one month

The opinion poll - the first since dozens of Labour MPs threatened to vote against Mr Brown's budget plans - records the Conservatives on 44 per cent, with Labour trailing on 26 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats are on 17 per cent. The Conservative lead is the biggest enjoyed by the party since October 1987, just a few months after Margaret Thatcher won her third term.

It would hand Mr Cameron a majority of more than 50 seats if repeated in a general election.

The poll is the latest blow to Mr Brown's authority and it follows his climb-down earlier this week over the abolition of the 10p tax rate.

Almost 50 Labour MPs had threatened to vote against the plans, forcing the Prime Minister to back down and offer a series of concessions.

Mr Brown's leadership is directly questioned by the poll, with two thirds of people believing that he has failed to give the Government a clear sense of direction.

The backdrop of a worsening economy has combined with a series of damaging stories to give Mr Brown a major problem as he tries to win back support.

Over the past month, support for Labour has dropped by three percentage points from 29 to 26 following the 10p tax row.

On Wednesday, Mr Brown finally gave into rebel demands over the 10p tax band change after days of saying the change was fair, it would not disadvantage people and that he was not backing down on the issue.

The rebellion threatened to become a Commons vote of confidence in Mr Brown and the division between the Prime Minister and his backbench MPs now presents the party with a problem in terms of public opinion.

The Conservatives have increased their lead over Labour from 14 per cent in March to 18 per cent now following the tax revolt.

However, the poll is not all good news for Mr Cameron as his personal approval rating has dropped slightly.

Mr Cameron's team are nervous about the forthcoming London elections and the Conservative leader last week told The Daily Telegraph that a loss for Boris Johnson would be "bad" and "very disappointing" for the party.

*YouGov questioned 2,073 people between Monday and Wednesday for the poll.

telegraph.co.uk