London: Prime Minister David Cameron`s Conservatives have taken a six-point lead over the opposition Labour Party ahead of Britain`s May 7 election, an opinion poll showed on Monday, putting support for the centre-right party at a three-year high.
The ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper put the Conservatives on 39 percent, up three points since last month, giving them their highest standing in that polling series since March 2012. Labour dropped two percentage points to 33 percent.
Other polls painted a different picture, however, underlining the unpredictability of the upcoming vote.
Two other surveys on Monday, one by polling firm Populus and the other by former Conservative Party deputy-chairman Michael Ashcroft, both showed the Conservatives and Labour level on 33 percent of the vote each.
In contrast, a YouGov poll published in The Sun newspaper on Monday put Labour three percentage points ahead on 36 percent, with the Conservatives on 33 percent.
The mixed signals come on the eve of the Conservative manifesto launch and after Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to overturn a damaging perception that his party cannot be trusted on the economy. Earlier on Monday, Miliband unveiled a manifesto which he said showed Labour had the most responsible plan to manage Britain`s finances.
The ICM poll showed the anti-EU UK Independence Party, which threatens Cameron`s chances of re-election by splitting the centre-right vote, slipped two points to 7 percent. Cameron`s junior coalition partner the Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 8 percent, while the Greens were up three points at 7 percent.
Sterling rose on news of the Conservative lead in the ICM poll, climbing to $1.4675, up 0.3 percent on the day.
Many traders in London`s traditionally right-leaning City say a Labour-led government would be a negative. But some foreign investors and analysts worry as much about the prospect of a weak administration that might be unable to deal with Britain`s current account and fiscal deficits, or about the Conservatives` promise to hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union.
ICM interviewed 1,042 adults by telephone between April 10-12.
