Labour has narrowed the gap with the Tories as the party enjoyed its best poll performance since Jeremy Corbyn became leader.
The Conservative lead over Labour has been slashed to just five points, according to a dramatic YouGov poll for The Times.
Theresa May’s party fell one point to 43 per cent, while Labour gained three points since the end of last week to reach 38 per cent of the vote. The Liberal Democrats were up one point on 10 per cent, and Ukip gained a point to reach four per cent.
Should the swing be replicated across all constituencies in June 8’s General Election, Mrs May would lose seats and the Conservative working majority would be slashed from 17 to two.
The poll, which is the first taken since Monday night’s suicide bomb attack on Manchester, came after a hostile reaction to plans in the Tory manifesto for elderly people needing care to pay potentially unlimited amounts from their estate for it.
But Mrs May’s personal approval rating rose from minus seven per cent last earlier this week to plus one per cent. Mr Corbyn’s fell from minus 11 per cent to minus 16 per cent.
The two main parties are now neck-and-neck in terms of how they are regarded as a whole, with the Conservatives on minus seven per cent and Labour on minus eight per cent.
Labour's former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, who has given his personal endorsement to Mr Corbyn's drive for Downing Street, welcomed the findings on Twitter, posting: "It's happening! Game on."
The Conservative candidate for Braintree, James Cleverly, tweeted: "Labour has thousands of Momentum activists and millions from the unions. We never thought this election was going to be a walk in the park."
The Tory candidate for North Devon, Peter Heaton-Jones, said: "So now will people believe us? Jeremy Corbyn really could be PM in just two weeks. Only way to stop him is to vote Conservative."
