Theresa May's Conservatives enjoy unprecedented lead ahead of 8 June election, suggest surveys

Britain’s ruling Conservative party holds a commanding 17-point lead over the opposition Labour party, a poll by Survation showed on Tuesday, with support for the anti-European Union UK Independence Party plummeting. [caption id=“attachment_3432410” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Theresa May. Reuters[/caption] Support for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives was at 47 percent, while 30 percent backed the opposition Labour party, the Survation poll for the Good Morning Britain TV show found. The centrist Liberal Democrats was on 7 percent, while just 4 percent said they would vote for UKIP, down almost nine percentage points from its support in the 2015 election, as the vote for Britain to leave the EU and May’s commitment to Brexit has cut the party’s appeal. The poll, which comes after UKIP suffered heavy losses in last week’s council election, found that 54 percent of UKIP voters said they would now vote Conservative. The result comes just a day after research firm ICM pegged Conservatives’ lead at 22 points, ahead of the 8 June election. The survey, for the Guardian newspaper, put support for the Conservatives at 49 percent, up two points from the previous ICM/Guardian poll last week, with Labour down one point at 27 percent. The Conservative lead was the biggest on record for any British election survey conducted by ICM, the polling firm said. ICM said the centrist Liberal Democrat Party was on 9 percent, up one point from last week, while UKIP fell two points to 6 percent. May had caught her political rivals and investors unawares last month when she called the election, saying she wanted strong backing from voters before she launches into tough negotiations with the European Union about Britain’s departure from the bloc.