Politics
Darren Staples/Reuters
- Ipsos MORI: Conservatives 47 / Labour 29
- The Tories remain very comfortable despite splits over Brexit
The Conservatives have stretched their lead over Labour to a huge 18 points, according to a new opinion poll.
The Ipsos MORI survey puts Theresa May's Conservatives on 47% (7 points up on last month) and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour on 29% (5 points down).
The new figures indicate a post-conference bounce for the Tories, with May's vision for Britain seemingly being received very well by the public. This is despite reports of fall-outs within the cabinet over Britain's exit from the European Union.
Parts of May's speech at the annual conference, which set out a hardline stance on immigration and hinted at a 'hard' Brexit, were widely seen as an attempt to win over supporters of UKIP. It even led to the party's former leader Nigel Farage to suggest that May had "rebranded the Conservative party as UKIP."
The tactic looks to be working. The anti-EU party is on just 6% - 3-points down on Mori's last survey.
In any case, the policies are highly popular with the electorate. Polls have pointed to widespread support for both a 'hard' Brexit and revealed that Britain is more worried about immigration than any other country in a major international poll.
Other parts of May's pitch to voters have been seen as an attempt to win over Labour voters.
Her calls for workers on company boards, controls on executive bonuses, and talk of "an economy that works for everyone" has been compared to the policies of former Labour leader Ed Miliband.
That helps to explain how May has managed to gather support from voters to the left and right of her own party.
There was some good news for Jeremy Corbyn, however - his personal ratings have risen while May's have fallen over the last month. Despite this, May remains comfortably ahead of Corbyn with a net satisfaction rating of +16. The Labour leader, meanwhile, has a net score of -24.