Labour takes polling lead over Tories

Labour have taken a leads in the polls in the wake of a disastrous few days for the Conservatives.

In a boost for Jeremy Corbyn, the latest YouGov poll for The Times puts his party on 39 per cent, two points clear of the Conservatives who have fallen to 37 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats remain unchanged on 9 per cent.

The new figures are a major boost for Labour, who trailed the Conservatives by four to five points during parts of March, April, May and June with the same pollster.

The poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, comes in the wake of a chaotic week for Theresa May which saw major resignations from her Cabinet following the crunch Chequers summit.

The row has seen confidence in the Conservatives' ability to successfully negotiate Brexit plummet to 13 per cent, down from 18 per cent at the weekend. The proportion of voters who think they Government are handling the negotiations badly has risen to 75 per cent, up from 66 per cent.

The chaos has also rocked the Prime Minister’s own personal popularity with voters, with 43 per cent believing it is time for her to go, up from 32 per cent in November. Some 28 per cent of Tory party members think May should now step down, with that figure rising to 49 per cent for those who voted to leave the EU.

The figures will make grim reading for ministers who are set to release the details of their Chequers plan in a White Paper later today.

Only 13 per cent of voters think that the Government’s plan would be good for Britain, while 42 per cent think it would not and 44 per cent do not know.