UK heading for hung parliament, say latest polls

There was more worrying news for British Conservative party leader David Cameron tonight as two more polls suggested the UK is on course for a hung parliament.

Research by YouGov for The Sunday Times found that his party's lead had narrowed from five points to four during the past week.

They were down one point on 37%, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 33% and 17% respectively.

If repeated at a general election with a uniform swing across the country, the results would leave Labour as the largest party with 302 seats, against 277 for the Conservatives, according to the newspaper. However, no party would have an overall majority.

Meanwhile, ICM research for The Sunday Telegraph found the Conservatives’ advantage had dipped by two points over the past month – to 38%, compared with 31% for Labour. The Lib Dems were up one on 21%.

The gap is the narrowest in an ICM poll for two years, and suggests Mr Cameron would be in control of the largest party, but 30 seats short of an overall majority.

According to the research, Mr Cameron is more trusted than Gordon Brown to deliver on the NHS (by 2%), schools (by 7%) and the economy (by 3%).

However, in January his leads were 8%, 12% and 7% respectively.

More than half (56%) of those quizzed wanted one party to win a clear majority.

However, 34% thought Britain’s interests would “best be served” if the election resulted in a hung parliament – despite warnings that such an outcome could panic the financial markets.

The YouGov findings also suggested voters have been taking the Conservatives’ “austerity” message to heart.

Asked which party would raise taxes most after the election, 37% named the Conservatives, while 26% said Labour.

Some 50% of people thought the Conservatives would impose more cuts on front-line public services, compared with 14% who said Labour would.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,007 adults by telephone on March 10 and 11. The results were weighted to the profile of all adults.

YouGov interviewed a representative sample of 1,507 adults online on March 11 and 12.