London - An opinion poll yesterday showed Mr Blair's lead over the opposition Conservatives had slipped to seven points - the narrowest gap since the 1997 general election.
The ICM poll was published by the Guardian just 24 hours after newspapers splashed a leaked confidential memo in which the Prime Minister expressed concern that voters saw him and his Labour government as being out of touch. The poll put Labour on 42 per cent, down one point over the past month, and the Conservatives on 35 per cent, up three. The Liberal Democrats remained on 17 per cent.