Polls not good news for Tories

The latest two opinion polls are not good news for the Conservatives. The latest YouGov poll shows them just two points ahead of Labour. A poll in 56 key Labour held marginals shows them trailing Labour: Polls

Although the poll results are somewhat erratic and, of course, subject to sampling error there has been a general downward trend for the Conservatives since last year. Of course, to some expect one would expect this as their policies come under closer scrutiny.

However, their overall message does come as rather negative: 'Isn't Gordon Brown awful?' The other message seems to be 'It's our turn'. That may have some resonance with voters, but it's not enough. One needs to a clearer indication of what the Conservatives would do that is distinctive and would help to improve the condition of the economy and society more generally. At the moment that message is not coming across and there is an over reliance on Dave Cameron's personal lead over Gordon Brown.