The Conservatives hold a 16-point lead over Labour ahead of the 12 December general election, according to the latest Opinium/Observer poll.
With Boris Johnson set to launch his party’s campaign on Wednesday, the Tories are up 2pts on 42% compared with a week ago, with Labour, also up 2pts, on 26%.
If the lead endured until polling day, it would be enough to give the Tories a comfortable overall majority and allow the prime minister to push his Brexit deal through parliament and take the UK out of the EU.
The Liberal Democrats are up one point on 16%, while the Brexit party, which said on Friday that it would run candidates in all seats unless Johnson pulled his Brexit deal, is down one on 9%.
The Tories continue to attract Leave voters, with 66% planning to vote Conservative and only 17% saying they will opt for Farage’s Brexit party.
Although 59% of voters say the NHS is the most important issue facing the country, 40% say the parties’ policies on Brexit will determine how they eventually vote, with only 18% citing approaches to the NHS.
On the key issue of which party will handle the economy best, Johnson and Sajid Javid, the chancellor, had a clear lead over Jeremy Corbyn and his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell. Some 39% of voters believe Johnson and Javid will do the best job, against 21% who would favour Corbyn and McDonnell.
With the Tories holding such a commanding lead, 52% of voters are expecting them to secure the most seats, but 30% are expecting another hung parliament and only 22% believe the Conservatives will form a majority government.
