General Election 2015: Voters predict Conservative win as Labour support wanes
The last raft of opinion polls have made happy reading for the Conservative Party.
After weeks of level pegging, several polls have given the Tories a slight lead over Labour. The website electionforecast at its current prediction, forecasts a hung Parliament with the Conservatives as the largest party.
However, with two months to go and all leads within the margin of error, there is all to play for. This week, Lord Ashcroft's poll of marginal constituencies showed the Tories in a dead heat with Labour and both on course to capture 272 seats.
While both national and marginal polls have the election too close to call, Opinium has asked voters not who they support but who they believe will win in May.
Almost half believe the Conservatives are on course for victory while just 33 per cent think Miliband can pull off a win. Things have come a long way since Opinium asked the same question back in 2013.
Two years ago, 54 per cent of voters predicted Labour would oust the Tories while just 24 per cent thought the Conservatives would be returned to office.
The change in mood is also reflected among committed Tory and Labour supporters. Tory voters are far more upbeat than their Labour peers, with 82 per cent predicting David Cameron will prevail – up from 60 per cent in 2013.
Labour voters' confidence has taken a knock with 67 per cent expecting victory – down from 82 per cent in 2013. Only 47 per cent of Labour voter expect to see Ed Miliband become Prime Minister.
The Conservatives may have some reason for optimism given the state of the race but still face a serious threat from Ukip as well as their inability to consistently breach 35 per cent in the polls.
With the short campaign still to come after Parliament dissolves at the end of the month, Labour will be hoping to avoid a bloodbath in Scotland and head-off a rise in support for the Greens in England as well as take a large chunk of Tory seats to secure the keys to number 10.