LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are still running neck and neck with the main opposition Labour Party ahead of next month’s election, a poll yesterday showed, further indicating a major TV debate had failed to sway voters.
An Opinium/Observer newspaper survey put the Conservatives down 1 point on 33 per cent, level with Labour whose rating was unchanged, with the anti-European Union UK Independence Party in third, up 1 point to 14 per cent.
The election on May 7 is set to be the tightest in Britain for decades partly because traditionally minor parties such as UKIP and the Green Party are polling much higher than before.
Snap polls taken after the TV debate featuring seven party leaders on Thursday night suggested there was no clear winner, but the Opinium survey appeared to confirm the view of many political commentators that Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) had been the best performer.
She came out on top according to 20 per cent of those polled, with Cameron on 17 per cent and Miliband 15 per cent. Sturgeon and Cameron were also seen as the most convincing.
The Opinium poll also found their personal approval levels for both Miliband and UKIP leader Nigel Farage had sharply risen.
Earlier yesterday, Sturgeon denied making private comments that she would rather Cameron was returned to power than Labour leader, Ed Miliband, whom she described as not being prime minister material, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.
