A day after she triggered fresh elections early next year, Tzipi Livni, Israel's centrist prime minister designate, took a lead in opinion polls for the first time.

Ms Livni, who was elected leader of the governing Kadima party last month after Ehud Olmert resigned as Prime Minister to fight corruption charges, had trailed Binyamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party for months. Her improved poll ratings appeared to be due to her gamble to abandon efforts to hang on to Mr Olmert's coalition, many of whose members she accused of “blackmailing” her for their own political gains.

The elections, due in a little over three months, are shaping up to be a contest between the moderates who want to negotiate the establishment of a Palestinian state, and who are prepared to relinquish control of parts of Jerusalem, and right-wingers who say that Israel's security would be compromised by giving up control of the West Bank to the Palestinians.

President Peres, formally announcing that the Knesset, or parliament, had to be dissolved, said that Israel was entering “a decisive electoral period”.

A poll published yesterday showed that Ms Livni's party had gained an edge over Likud. It emerged that if elections were held now, Kadima would win 29 of the Knesset's 120 seats, while Mr Netanyahu's party would secure 26.

Labour, which is Kadima's main coalition partner, would slip behind Likud and win just 11 seats.

The boost in Kadima's ratings may signal new-found confidence in Ms Livni, a 50-year-old former Mossad agent and lawyer who only entered parliament a decade ago. She has led the team negotiating with the Palestinians, and has won support for her clean-cut image after the constant stream of corruption allegations that sank her predecessor.

Rallying her party yesterday, Ms Livni, who was only elected party leader by the narrowest of margins, said: “We all awoke today to flattering polls, and while this is certainly important, we need a Kadima that is strong, a Kadima that is united, a Kadima that strides forward as one”.

The elections are expected to be held in February or March next year.

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