Labour and LibDems almost Neck-and-neck?

The Liberal Democrats are just one point behind Labour in a ComRes opinion poll published  in tomorrow’s Independent on Sunday — 22 and 23 per cent respectively. The Tories are out in front with 38 per cent, but that is interestingly short of the symbolic 40 per cent threshold. The poll says LibDems are up 3, Labour down 2, and Tories up 2, compared with the last ComRes poll at the end of June. Labour HQ — already worried by the possiblity of losing next week’s Norwich North parliamentary by-election — will be deeply alarmed at the thought that the LibDems are snapping at Labour’s heels, with the possibility of Labour falling to third place in the run-up to the party conference season. However, a rival YouGov poll has figures which suggest there is still a meaningful gap between Labour and the LibDems (25 and18), though the Tories are given a morale-boosting 42. The common factor is that the minor parties, such as the Greens and UKIP, are fading, after their moment in the sun during the European elections. But there does also seem to be a high degree of political volatility in Britain at the moment.