Conservative lead slashed by seven points in latest poll ahead of general election

The Conservative lead over Labour has slipped by seven points according to a new poll.

The numbers from YouGov showed support for the Conservatives has fallen from 48% to 45 compared to a week ago.

Labour, on the other hand, increased their support by four points to 29.

The Liberal Democrats fell two to 10% and Ukip rose 2 to 7%.

The poll suggests a somewhat tighter race than the picture painted by two other surveys published earlier on Wednesday, which showed the Conservatives enjoying leads of 23 and 22 points over Labour.

One poll showed Prime Minister Theresa May to be rated more highly as a leader than Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair during their top years of popularity.

The Ipsos Mori poll found 61% of voters saw Ms May as the "most capable" of the leaders of the main political parties, while labour's Jeremy Corbyn was rated at 23%.

In the week and a half since Mrs May announced the snap election, Brexit has been central to the debate, along with the NHS and taxes.

The YouGov poll also showed the majority of British voters believe Brexit was the wrong decision for the first time since the referendum.

The survey found 45% of respondents thought it was the wrong decision compared with 43% who said it was right, while 12% said they did not know.