Labour's lead over Conservatives falls after Miliband's conference speech
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Version 0 of 1. Labour's lead has fallen sharply to only two points following Ed Miliband's party conference speech in which he failed to mention the deficit, according to the latest Opinium/Observer poll. Suffering the reverse of a "conference bounce", Labour's lead has dropped by six points from a healthy eight a fortnight ago. Labour is down three points on 34%, the Tories are up three points on 32% while Ukip is down one point on 17%. The Lib Dems are unchanged on 7% and the Greens remain on 4%. The poll was conducted between Wednesday and Friday, in the immediate aftermath of Miliband's address to the Labour conference in Manchester. The Labour leader was criticised across much of the media and ridiculed by political opponents after admitting that he forgot to deliver key sections of the speech, which he gave without any notes. The poll also shows Labour failing to gain ground on the key issue of economic credibility. Asked which of the two biggest parties they trusted most to run the economy, 35% said they backed David Cameron and George Osborne, against just 23% who backed Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. The gap of 12 points is the same as when the question was last asked by Opinium in June. When asked which party had the best plans for running the economy, 33% said the Conservatives and 25% Labour. 30% said neither had a decent plan. Only 63% of Labour voters said their own party had the best economic policies, against 81% of Tories who said the Conservatives had the most credible policies. Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 1,984 British adults aged over 18 between 23 and 26 September. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. |