Theresa May and the Conservatives lead the Labour Party by just five points in the first poll conducted since Monday’s deadly terror attack in Manchester.
A YouGov poll released Friday puts the Conservatives at 43 percent, down one from last week. The Labour Party gained three points to reach 38.
May held onto a 23-point lead late April. The Conservatives would now see their majority decline from 17 seats to two seats if the poll is replicated in each constituency in the June 8 election.
The good news for May is that the numbers appear to have little to do with her response to the attack. It’s likely part of the criticism the party has received since announcing a number of cuts for senior citizens in its election manifesto.
“It would be a mistake to assume the narrowing Tory lead is necessarily connected to the bombing,” Anthony Wells, YouGov’s research director, told The Times. “This is the first poll since the dementia tax row, and that seems a more plausible explanation.”
The Conservatives released their election manifesto May 18 with a number of policy changes for the elderly — the party’s core supporters. The manifesto would restrict the currently universal winter fuel payment for older people and rearrange the costs of caring for them.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the manifesto would create a “war between generations” if implemented.
May called a snap election April to give voters a chance to decide who they want in charge of Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
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