London: A new poll has put Britain’s Conservative Party ahead of the ruling Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, but it could be a “terrible” news for opposition leader David Cameron if the Labour and Liberal Democrats form a coalition.
The Liberal Democrats are being considered as the “kingmakers”, after they finished second in the poll on the heels of their leader Nick Clegg’s winning performance in the first televised leaders’ debate.
The new YouGov poll for The Sun puts the Conservatives in the lead on 33 percent (down four), the Liberal Democrats on 30 percent (up eight) and Labour on 28 percent (down three).
According to Professor Michael Thrasher, who translated the figures into what the House of Commons would look like, the Conservatives would have 244 seats (up 34), Liberal Democrats would have 103 (up 41), Labour would have 271 (down 78) and the remaining 32 seats would be taken by other parties.
“It’s great news for the Liberal Democrats and terrible news for Cameron. The Tory leader will be under pressure now having argued so hard for the debate in the first place,” Sky News quoted their chief political correspondent, Jon Craig, as saying.
“The reason it’s so bad for the Tories is because it continues the slump in the Tory lead over the last few months. Alarm bells will be ringing in Tory headquarters. The pressure is on David Cameron to raise his game,” he added.
Thursday night’s showdown was the first of three in the run-up to the vote, and was watched by nearly 10 million viewers - almost one in four voters in Britain.
ANI
