A new poll has put the Theresa May and the Tories at just 5 points ahead of the Jeremy Corbyn led Labour party as they battle for the nation’s votes ahead of the June 8 elections.

Labour had been closing the vast gap in the polls rapidly before the Manchester attack. And this appeared to confirm it. The Tory lead was down to just five points – which would cut the Tories’ majority to just two.

However, the Manchester attack is not the only factor. YouGov’s previous poll was also carried out before the furore over the ‘dementia tax’. The pollster’s director Anthony Wells said: “It has been a highly unusual few days in an election campaign, arguably unlike any other in history. There is no way of guessing what will happen in the two weeks to polling day.”

The poll revealed, once again, a massive generation gap. Labour has nearly triple the support of the Tories among under-25s – 59% to just 22% for Theresa May’s party. But among pensioners, the Tories have 67% support compared to just 19% for Labour.

A TNS/Kantar poll before the Manchester atrocity put the Conservatives down five points on 42%, with Labour up five on 34%, Lib Dems up a point on 9% and Ukip down two on 4%.

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