Wednesday 06 May 2015 12:20 pm

General Election 2015: Final polls put Labour and Conservatives neck and neck

After weeks of claims and counter-claims, of campaigns and counter-campaigns, of polls and counter-polls, it's here: the day the final opinion polls are published.

Alas, not much has changed: in an ICM poll for The Guardian published this afternoon, the Conservatives and Labour were neck and neck, with 35 per cent of the vote – although that's a three point gain for Labour.

Meanwhile, the fringe parties felt a squeeze, with support for the Liberal Democrats remaining flat at nine per cent, while Ukip fell two points to 11 per cent, and the Green Party dropped a similar amount, to with three per cent.

Until now, ICM surveys have shown a lead of between six and two points for the Conservatives.

Still, that result isn't dissimilar to TNS BMRB's poll, published earlier this afternoon, which showed the Tories slightly ahead, with 33 per cent of the vote, while Labour had 32 per cent, Ukip had 14 per cent, the Liberal Democrats had eight and the Green Party had six. Lord Ashcroft and Ipsos-Mori will publish their final figures later today.

With a hung parliament on the cards, voters were also asked what kind of coalition they'd prefer. A Conservative-led government was the preferred choice, with 22 per cent of voters picking it, while 19% would rather a Labour-led government.

However, the results were encouraging for the leaders: David Cameron's approval ratings have risen two points to +14, while Ed Miliband's has risen nine points, from -29 to -20 – which, as ICM pointed out, is "pretty conventional – certainly on a parr with Nick Clegg (-18) and Nigel Farage (-16)".
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