LABOUR'S poll rating has dived following this week's Budget - the Conservatives now lead by 18% according to a YouGov survey for the Daily Telegraph.The poll put Conservative support at 45% - up 4% - while Labour was down by the same amount on 27%.

Graham Dines

LABOUR'S poll rating has dived following this week's Budget - the Conservatives now lead by 18% according to a YouGov survey for the Daily Telegraph.

The poll put Conservative support at 45% - up 4% - while Labour was down by the same amount on 27%. The Lib Dems were backed by 18%.

The gap in favour of David Cameron's party is the biggest since last September. If the figures were repeated at a General Election, he would enter Downing Street with a landslide majority of more than 150.

There was more good news for Mr Cameron - for the first time, more than half (56%) of those polled rated him as a good leader.

However, there was some small comfort for Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling as the YouGov survey strong public support (68%) for the “clobber the rich” 50p tax rate.

YouGov conducted online interviews with 1,896 adults from across Britain on April 22 and 23.

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