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LABOUR’S lead over the Conservatives has narrowed to a single point, the latest Sunday Times-YouGov poll shows. The poll, carried out between Thursday and yesterday, suggests Labour may have been hit by doubts over its asylum policy.

It puts Labour on 36%, down one on last week, the Tories on 35%, unchanged, and the Liberal Democrats on 23%, up two. The result, if repeated on May 5, would give Labour an overall majority of nearly 50 seats.

Another poll today, however, points to a much bigger Labour lead. ICM in The Sunday Telegraph has Labour on 40%, the Tories 30% and the Lib Dems on 22%, enough for a Labour majority of 150.

The slight narrowing of Labour’s lead in the YouGov poll comes despite the fact that the party’s repeated emphasis on the partnership between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in recent days appears to be paying dividends. Asked who they would trust most to run the economy, 51% named Blair-Brown, against 28% for the Michael Howard-Oliver Letwin partnership. On an individual basis, Brown scored by three to one, 59% to 19%, over Letwin.

Voters are not happy, however, with the idea of higher taxes to pay for public services. Only 6% of people think they should pay more tax, against 45% who think they should pay less. The overwhelming majority, 71%, think their taxes are wasted because of state inefficiency.

The problem for the Tories is that they have failed to convince voters they could avoid tax hikes. Asked if there was a “black hole” in Labour’s plans, 53% of people said yes, but a similar proportion thought the same of Conservative plans.

The one cheerful piece of news for the Tories last night was a BPIX poll in The Mail on Sunday that suggested they have edged into a one-point lead among voters certain to vote. But its main poll put Labour on 36% and the Tories on 33%.

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