Tories dramatically close gap on Labour in best polling since general election

The Conservatives have their highest level of support since the 2024 general election, with the party now just two points behind Labour, according to a new poll which will be seen as major boost to Kemi Badenoch.

YouGov polling for The Times published on Tuesday shows almost a quarter of voters (24 per cent) would now back the Tories – a two-per cent rise from last week and a significant improvement on the 17 to 19 per cent scores it has averaged for much of the past year.

The Times reports that 67 per cent of Tory voters from 2024 would vote for the party again, the poll suggests. It has also picked up 13 per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters from the last general election.

Ms Badenoch’s party is also appealing to an increasing number of young people.

Some 17 per cent of voters aged between 18 and 24 intend to back the Conservatives – more than the Lib Dems and Reform UK combined – according to the polling.

It is YouGov’s first voting intentions poll since last week’s Budget and it saw Labour drop one point to 26 per cent. That is still well above the 19 per cent level it had slumped to in the summer before Andy Burnham took office.

Meanwhile, the prospect of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK making it to No 10 appears to be continuing to slip away after the YouGov poll left them in third place for the third week running.

Mr Farage’s party was on 21 per cent, a point up from a YouGov poll last week – its lowest number since the general election.

The Liberal Democrats and the Greens saw no movement on 11 and 10 per cent respectively.

The poll makes for good reading for Ms Badenoch, who last week said John Healey’s Budget was “all about an election”.

Following the Budget on Wednesday, the prime minister categorically denied he was planning to call another election within the next year.

Mr Burnham said: “I don’t know how many times I’ve done this now, but yes, I can rule out calling a general election in the next 12 months.”

However, appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said she did not believe the prime minister when he said one would not be called within the year.

“I actually think that they were preparing for one much sooner,” she said.

The leader of the opposition added: “I think Andy Burnham, like many politicians, just thinks about elections, doesn’t actually know how to run the country – and that is a worry.”