Tories close the gap to 4 with ComRes phone

Tonight’s ComRes phone poll for the Independent has the Tories up 2% closing the gap with LAB to just 4%. This is near the two Populus polls on Friday and today which had 3% margins. The only other pollster to have reported since EdM’s big speech, YouGov, had LAB on 42% a full 11% ahead of the Tories.

In situation like this it is hard to say which is right and I do have serious reservations about the party ID ratings which are operated by Populus.

ComRes also found that LAB is seen as being more likely than CON to tackle the cost of living crisis but think the Tories are more likely to deliver economic growth.

When asked to choose between the two main parties, those polled said that the Tories (42%) would be more likely than Labour (33%) to keep the economy growing.

Similarly, nearly half (47%) say that CON would be more likely than LAB to keep public spending under control, compared to 28% who said the opposite.

However, by 41% to 31% the sample said they would more likely to think that their own family would be better off under EdM’s party. Ed Miliband’s promise of a 20-month freeze on energy prices if Labour wins the next election has “cut through”. Nearly half (48%) say that LAB would be more likely than the CON to keep energy prices down if they won the next election, while only 21% believe the Tories would be more likely to.

Mike Smithson

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