Conservatives lead over Labour cut by seven points ahead of general election, latest poll shows

Poll suggests somewhat tighter race than other surveys

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (PA Wire/PA Images)

The Conservative lead over Labour has shrunk by seven points, a new poll has indicated.

The YouGov poll, conducted for The Times, showed support for the Tories at 45 per cent, down three percentage points from last week.

Labour increased its support by four points to 29 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats were down two points to 10 per cent and Ukip rose two points to seven per cent.

The poll excluded "don't knows" and "would not vote" responses.

The YouGov poll suggested a somewhat tighter race than the picture painted by two other surveys published earlier on Wednesday, which had shown the Conservatives enjoying leads of 23 and 22 points over Labour.

One poll showed Prime Minister Theresa May to be rated more highly as a leader than Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair during their best years.

The Ipsos Mori poll found 61 per cent of voters saw Ms May as the "most capable" of the leaders of the main political parties, while labour's Jeremy Corbyn was rated at 23 per cent.

It also said the lead of the Conservatives was equal to that commanded by Ms Thatcher before her 1983 landslide victory.

Ms May, who replaced David Cameron as prime minister shortly after last June's EU referendum shock, repeatedly ruled out a snap election until she announced the 8 June vote last week.

She is seeking to bolster her majority in parliament ahead of potentially disruptive EU divorce talks and has gambled that the low level of support for the Labour Party under Mr Corbyn gives her a good chance to achieve that.

The Times YouGov poll also showed the majority of British voters believe Brexit was the wrong decision for the first time since the referendum.

The survey found 45 per cent of respondents thought it was the wrong decision compared with 43 per cent who said it was right, while 12 per cent said they did not know.

British voters split 52-48 percent in favour of leaving the EU at the referendum, which the Government has said cannot be reversed.