Harris poll for The Metro	Mar 16	Mar 9
CONSERVATIVES	36%	37%
LABOUR	28%	29%
LIB DEMS	18%	18%
LAB to CON swing from 2005	5.5%	5.5%

UKIP/BNP/GRN all move up

The gap between the Tories and Labour remains the same in the latest poll by Harris Interactive for the Metro but both main parties slip a point.

It should be noted that fieldwork for the poll took place over seven days – from Wednesday last week to Tuesday this week – which seems an extraordinary long period of time when things can change. And we are only getting it today – three days later.

The main feature is the increasing share going to “others” – up now to 18% points which makes it the highest of all the pollsters covering this election. Another on-line firm, Opinium, had the total at 17% while this week’s PB/Angus Reid poll saw a sharp decline in this segment to 14%.

It is something of a mystery why the internet firms should all, with the exception of YouGov, be recording such shares – maybe it is that supporters of parties like the BNP and UKIP feel more comfortable with their choice when they are not talking to a human interviewer.

In this poll UKIP, the BNP and the Green Party are all up one point to six, five and four per cent.

This latest poll means that three of the firms reporting this week have Labour in the 20s.

Mike Smithson

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