Latest UK Opinion Poll Puts David Cameron’s Conservatives Ahead of Labour: Small Relief For Mainstream Parties
Contrary to looming concerns that main stream parties might get a drubbing in the May 7 poll, Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives could score a four percentage edge over rival Labour party, according to a YouGov opinion survey, published on Tuesday. This has been the largest lead that the pollster has recorded for Conservaties in the last three years.
The YouGov poll published its findings in The Sun, said the Conservatives were able to attract 35 percent of the vote against Ed Miliband's Labour Party, which got 31 percent. The Conservatives have been ahead in four of the last 10 YouGov polls, while in two Labour had the lead. "In YouGov's daily poll we’ve reached the point that Conservative leads are a little more common than Labour ones," YouGov's director of political polling Anthony Wells said on his website.
The poll was carried out on March 8 and 9 and comes days after Cameron raked up a controversy and drew accusations of cowardice from rivals when he refused a head-to-head televised debate with opposition leader Miliband.
Harbinger for Bigger Lead
The data has triggered speculations that Conservatives under Cameron may improve the lead over Labour, in the coming weeks. Opinion polls had been predicting the election to be one of the closest British elections. Another poll, published on Monday by former Conservative Party vice-chairman Michael Ashcroft, also gave the Cameron's party a four-point advantage. The YouGov poll was based on a sample of 1,745 adults.
Transformative Moment
Though opinion polls are showing constantly swinging leads of two main parties, the coming election is significant. At its first glance, it may look like a drab stalemate, but indications are that it could prove to be a transformative moment in British politics. The polls may break the status quo of two-party model that was in vogue since the Second World War.
Many say that Cameron will emerge with more members of Parliament than Miliband. This is because the prime minister was able to achieve a remarkable recovery in the economy in terms of job creation. Defying predictions of fragility, Cameron and partner Nick Clegg held the coalition together for five years. But new configurations may also come as a surprise on the morning of May 8, as the polls are becoming increasingly unpredictable.
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