Two new general election polls in the UK have shown the Conservative lead over Labour shrinking as the June 8 vote approaches.
An Opinium poll for The Observer found the Tory advantage had fallen from 13 to 10 points over the past week, with Theresa May's party on 45 percent (down one point), with Labour on 35 percent (up two), Liberal Democrats on 7 percent (down one) and Ukip on 5 percent (unchanged).
Meanwhile, a ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and Independent showed the gap between the parties narrowing from 18 to 12 points over the past fortnight, with Tories on 46 percent (down two), Labour on 34 percent (up four), Lib Dems on 8 percent (down two) and Ukip 5 percent (unchanged)
Although the results are less dramatic than Friday's YouGov survey, which found the Conservative advantage squeezed to just five points, they tally with the trend in a number of polls which have shown Labour gaining on the Tories after having begun the election race as much as 25 points adrift.
The Opinium poll, taken after Monday's suicide bombing in Manchester, also found May's approval ratings had slumped from plus-17 to plus-11 over the week, while Mr Corbyn's rose from minus-18 to minus-11.
The ComRes poll found May was rated best leader to keep Britain safe from terrorism, by a margin of 42 percent to 16 percent for Mr Corbyn. But her ratings on this and almost every other measure had declined over the fortnight since the questions were last asked, while the Labour leader's had improved.
Labour was preferred by a margin of 42 percent to 37 percent for having the "best policies for people like me and my family". But 51 percent said that May would make a better PM, compared to 30 percent for Corbyn.
The Prime Minister was seen as best choice to represent Britain on the world stage, lead negotiations on Brexit and reduce net migration, while Corbyn was rated best to improve the National Health Service (NHS), look after the interests of hard-working families and protect older people.
Reuters
