Tories lead Labour by five points in new British election poll

Britain’s ruling Conservatives have taken a five-point lead over Labour in an Ipsos-Mori survey, the latest poll to show David Cameron’s party gaining an edge just seven days before a knife-edge election.

The Conservatives and Ed Miliband’s opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in most polls since the start of the year, but by yesterday, seven of the 10 pollsters covering the May 7th election had Mr Cameron’s Conservatives ahead by varying degrees.

In a poll for London's Evening Standard newspaper, Ipsos Mori put that lead at five points, after the Tories gained two percentage points to hold 35 per cent support and Labour dropped five percentage points to 30 per cent.The results helped to keep sterling near a two-month high against a weak dollar.

The election is the closest since the 1970s, with neither of the two main parties able to open up a big enough lead to rule alone.

Surveys show that instead, millions of voters are flocking to once-marginal parties, especially in Scotland where the Scottish National Party (SNP) looks set to make major gains, and in England where both big parties are losing votes to the anti-EU Ukip. Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos Mori's social research institute, said the poll had picked up on the recent trend of the Conservatives gaining momentum but that there were too many moving parts to make a definite prediction.

An Ipsos-MORI poll of Scottish voters on Wednesday predicted it could win all Scotland’s seats next week and wipe out Labour in what was once its stronghold. – (Reuters)