Labour overtakes Tories on education

Labour edged ahead of the Conservatives over the key issue of education ahead of the general election, according to a poll.

In a ComRes survey for BBC2's Newsnight, 27% of those questioned said Labour had the best policies for education in England, against 25% for the Tories and 10% for the Liberal Democrats. More than a quarter (26%) said they did not know.

The Conservative rating was down sharply by 10 percentage points since a similar poll in August 2009.

Shadow education secretary Michael Gove's promise to allow parents and voluntary groups to set up independent schools within the state system came under intense scrutiny over recent months, with Labour challenging Tory claims that a similar scheme has delivered improvements in Sweden.

Labour, who are promising to protect spending on schools, were up two points while Liberal Democrats, who offer an extra £2.5 billion to cut class sizes and boost funding for schools with the most disadvantaged children, were down five.

Just 25% of those questioned agreed that Labour had delivered on Tony Blair's famous promise to make "education, education, education" his first three priorities, compared to 67% who said it had not.

Asked if Labour used its investment in education in the most effective way, 26% said it had and 67% that it had not.

Some 40% said the Government had given parents more choice over where they sent their child to school, against 53% who said it had not.

* ComRes interviewed 865 adults in England between March 5 and 7 for Newsnight.