The Conservatives are uncertain of a parliamentary majority at an election, an opinion poll published today suggested.
The "poll of polls" in the London Independent - a weighted average of the polls conducted by ComRes, ICM, YouGov, Populus and Ipsos Mori - showed the Conservative party's lead cut to single figures.
The projections put the Conservatives on 39 per cent, down one point from last month, with the Labour party up one point on 30 per cent, suggesting an election, expected by May, could leave no party with an overall majority.
The third-placed Liberal Democrats, who could then hold the balance of power, were unchanged on 19 per cent.
The poll followed an ICM survey in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper yesterday that showed the Conservatives 14 seats short of a majority in the lower house, if the result were repeated on election day.
It would be the first time there has been no outright winner in a British election since the mid-1970s.
That could make financial markets jittery over whether legislators would be able to take decisive action to tackle Britain's record budget deficit, analysts say.
Reuters