ComRes show Tory lead down to single figures

There is a new ComRes poll in the Sunday Independent which has headline figures - with changes from ComRes's previous poll in the Independent - of CON 40%(-1), LAB 31%(+2), LDEM 16% (-2). The poll was conducted on the 15th and 16th of October, prior to David Cameron taking a more aggressive line against the government.

It isn't a huge shift in support from the last poll, which was conducted just before the Tory conference, but it does seem to confirm that narrowing of the Tory lead and - depending upon Lib Dem support - a Tory lead of 9 points puts us back in hung parliament territory, rather than the "landslide victory" leads we were seeing a few months ago.

On the subject of Lib Dem support the poll also reflects the same sort of fall in Liberal Democrat support that we've been seeing across the board. Despite Vince Cable mostly being seen as having come out of the banking crisis with the highest reputation, the level of Lib Dem support in the polls has only been going downwards.

Being feted by people who watch politics doesn't necessarily translate into any support from the wider public.

Also of interest was a question asking people whether "It is right that taxpayers’ money should be used to bail out banks". 37% agreed and 58% disagreed. By focusing on "bailing out banks" and taxpayers money the question has probably produced a more hostile response than a question asking about the "rescue plan" would have, but all the same it shows the potential for a hostile response to the government's action.

UPDATE: There are also some figures from an ICM poll for the News of the World here. The poll shows a majority (54%) think Brown is doing well in dealing with the crisis and he leads the Conservatives by 8 points on trust on the economy. However, ICM also asked whether people were now more or less likely to vote Labour at the next election (the exact wording is sadly not made clear) - 13% said more likely but 22% said less likely. As I've said many times, I don't think much of "more or less likely" questions - but this doesn't look particularly positive. There is sadly no sign of any voting intention question here.

I am expecting a BPIX poll as well tonight. With luck there could also be some others - perhaps ICM have voting intention figures elsewhere and MORI are a possibility (they're not!). I'm clocking off for the night, so use this thread to discuss any further polls.