May’s election lead falls

LONDON: Britain’s Labour Party has cut the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives to 14 points from 20 points a week ago, according to an ICM poll which showed Labour regaining ground in some of its most closely contested voting districts.

Ahead of the June 8 election, the poll for the Guardian newspaper said support for the ruling Conservatives had fallen by 1 percentage point to 47 percent, while Labour jumped 5 points to 33 percent.

Polls had put May’s Conservatives on course for a big victory after she called the snap election in April but her lead has slipped in recent days after both sides published their pre-election policy plans, known as the manifesto.

May was forced on Monday to backtrack on one of the most striking pledges after voters reacted coldly to her proposal to force elderly people to may more for their social care.

"After the delivery of the party manifestos, polling over the weekend has indicated a resurgent, if still rather distant Labour Party," ICM director Martin Boon said.

"The Tories have had a flat out bad weekend but we’ve seen short term effects like this before, and we’ve seen them dissipate. This is still a massive 14-point (Conservative) lead, and still their election to throw away."