Why did the Observer bury a poll showing Starmer’s shrinking lead?

As Conservative conference kicks off, there is a crumb of comfort for the Prime Minister in the latest polling in the Observer – but you’d be hard pressed to actually find it in the newspaper’s write-up. The Opinium survey for the paper of more than 3,000 voters – including over 900 people who voted Tory in 2019 – shows that Labour’s lead has shrunk to just ten points over the Tories. Sunak’s party now has 29 per cent of the vote share, compared to Labour’s 39 per cent.

Mr S doesn’t think the Tories should get too excited just yet. But it does mark something of a turnaround in the party’s fortunes, given that a year ago Labour led the Conservatives by some 25 points. The Observer, however, seemed curiously shy about revealing this finding. Instead, the paper focuses on the revelation that a third of 2019 voters are considering walking away from the party.