Trump regains lead in battleground state Ohio but is it enough to beat Clinton?

Donald Trump has regained his lead in swing state Ohio, gaining three points over the past week for a current average of 46.5 to Hillary Clinton's 46 points in the state.

Trump had fallen behind his Democrat rival in what is considered a key battleground state, following several highly-publicised setbacks including abuse allegations and leaked footage of lewd comments.

The swing states with the highest number of Electoral College votes are Florida (29), Pennsylvania (20), Ohio (18), Michigan (16) and North Carolina (15), with Ohio viewed as something of a predictor for how the election will play out, given the diversity of the state.

Trump has clawed back some ground over the past week, with polling data unchanged in swing state Iowa, where he has seen a consistent lead since the beginning of September in what is becoming a disappointing state for Clinton – who back in June was leading Trump by four points.

However, despite losing her lead in Ohio, Clinton is maintaining her lead in nine of 11 swing states, with recent predictions from the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project, released on 15 October, showing that if the election was held now, the odds of Clinton gaining the required number of EC votes to win would be 95%, with a margin of 118 EC votes.

In addition, Clinton has also seen her lead increase in Florida, the swing state with the highest number of EC votes, where she has gained an average of 2.3 points for a current average of 47.4 to Trump's 43.8.

She has also gained numbers in Pennsylvania, where she is up more than a point for a current average of 48.5 to Trump's 41.8 – a minuscule dip from Trump, who last week saw an average of 41.7 in the state.

With less than a month to go before the elections, both candidates are hitting swing state voters hard, with Trump holding several rallies across Florida and Clinton set to hit Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina and New Hampshire, among other swing states, prior to the election.

Nationally, the past few weeks have seen Clinton leading Trump by as many as 14 points, with a current national average lead of seven points, although the LA Times/USC Tracking poll has put Trump in the lead – with differing methodology used to take the data.