Today’s ICM poll makes grim reading for Labour MPs. The poll – based on samples taken from Friday to Sunday – shows that the Conservatives have received an impressive post-conference bounce, opening a 17-point lead over Labour:
Conservatives: 43pc (up 2)
Labour: 26pc (down 2)
Ukip: 11pc (down 2)
Lib Dems: 8pc (down 1)
Greens: 6pc (up 2)
To put things into perspective, if this lead were to play out in an election — on old boundary rules — the Conservatives’ majority could be boosted to 114 seats. The 17-point lead is the joint second highest ever recorded for the Conservatives by ICM — which has been polling since 1992 — only being beaten in 2008 when the Tories achieved a higher lead with Gordon Brown at his most unpopular during the financial crisis.
What’s more — while parties tend to expect a bounce in the polls after their annual conference — this comes after much negative press over the Home Secretary’s foreign worker list and Theresa May’s hints of a hard Brexit.
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