Today's News of the World publishes ( in an article titled "Brown and out") the results of an ICM poll which reports a 9% swing to the Conservatives.

ICM says 131 of the 145 Conservative target constituencies would be won by the Conservatives if current projected voting trends were repeated at the next General Election.

The new opinion poll points to a Conservative majority of 64 in the House of Commons.

The News of the World says that 4 well known ministers would lose their seats on a 9% swing to the Conservatives - Alistair Darling, Jacqui Smith, Ruth Kelly and John Hutton.

51% of those polled said that the NHS was the most important issue with 40% saying education was the main priority issue. 33% chose the economy and 16% said europe/foreign affairs.

50% of those questioned thought that the Conservatives would be better at controlling immigration than Labour (24% backed Labour on this).

While the News of the World gave the swing to the Conservatives - it did not say how much support each party currently has nationally.

More on the new ICM opinion poll at:

News of the World poll of marginals shows how David Cameron would storm to election victory | News | News of the World
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Originally Posted by Britannist:
51% of those polled said that the NHS was the most important issue with 40% saying education was the main priority issue. 33% chose the economy and 16% said europe/foreign affairs.

16%! Finally, people are seeing the light.
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Yes, that is good. Maybe the (old) stories in the press recently about transnational regions and the like are starting to make an impression.
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The NHS is the vote winner. UKIP hasn't got a policy.
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The whole of the NHS needs to be reviewed,and modernised, realistically,this,is the biggest job of all and will take a while to put into a policy,even then,it will require changes as found and dictated by the ever changing situations that seem to occur within the Health of a country and the world in general.
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I think that Peter Hitchen's has it right (he usually does) when he writes in today's MoS:

'Please whatever you do, don't let them trick you into voting for the Useless Tories on Thursday. It will only encourage David Cameron to hug more hoodies.

'Having failed to make Mr Cameron popular like a rock star, the professional manipulators have hit on a new idea easier to achieve. They are trying to make Gordon Brown as unpopular as a Big Brother villain, an anti-star with negative charisma. That way they hope to ensure a change of figurehead without change of policy. This may well provide cover for people who idiotically voted for New Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005 to switch to the Blairite Tories [Tony Benn calls them blue Labour]. But no intelligent person should fall for such a crude trick.
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If Broon bombs and is replaced by Drako Milliband I think it will be a far different ball game to the one played so far since bliar left Labour.
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Sadly, aarable, intelligent people will fall for the crude trick, probably in their millions. Brown certainly has negative charisma and the press are happy to portray him as such to bring about the 'non change' in national policy.

Cameron is a public school educated toff with an aristocratic family and no understanding of the real world or real people; luckily UKIP have adopted a public school educated toff with an aristocratic family and no understanding of the real world or real people to offer a contrast to the electorate. We should do well.
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Hitchens' thesis is plausible, though it must be said the 'manipulators' (the press?) haven't had to work very hard at painting Brown as a charmless incompetent.
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'... intelligent people will fall for the crude trick, probably in their millions .....'

Yes
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