国际英语新闻：Major British party leaders in last lap of election campaign

An opinion poll released on Tuesday evening and carried out by Comres for ITV News and The Independent newspaper put the Conservatives on 37 per cent, Labour on 29 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 26 per cent, all the figures being unchanged on a poll in the same series 24 hours earlier.

A YouGov/Sun poll also released on Tuesday evening put the Conservatives on 35 per cent, Labour up to 30 per cent and the Liberal Democrats dropping to 24 per cent.

The huge boost given to the Lib Dems in the wake of Clegg's victory in the first TV debate has drifted away somewhat, as some voters appear to have returned to the parties they first supported. However there are many voters who are still undecided or who may change their minds, making an already difficult-to-call election even more complex.

But on those figures the Conservatives would be tantalisingly close to a majority government in one poll, if they could swing the support of the unionist parties from Northern Ireland, and in the other they would have more votes but fewer seats than Labour.