The Labour Party has surged to an astonishing 33-point lead over the Tories, according to new polling.
The YouGov poll, carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, put Labour on 54% (+9) compared to the Conservatives’ 21% (-7).
The Times, which commissioned the poll, said it is believed to be the largest poll lead enjoyed by any party with any pollster since the late 1990s.
It follows a successful Labour conference in Liverpool and, more importantly, market turmoil and public outcry following Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last Friday.
The poll also shows the gap between the Lib Dems in third (7%) and the Tories is smaller than between Labour and the Conservatives.
The poll will heap more pressure on prime minister Liz Truss – who has been in power for only three weeks – as he forges ahead with her controversial growth plan.
With reports of unease among Tory MPs after the market chaos of recent days, some have called for an urgent change of course from the prime minister.
Julian Smith, a former Cabinet minister, urged the government to “take responsibility” for the crisis.
“The government must scrap 45p, take responsibility for the link between last Friday and the impact on people’s mortgages and make clear that it will do everything possible to stabilise markets and protect public services,” he tweeted.
Former science minister George Freeman called on the Cabinet to meet and agree a “Plan B”.
“The economic package of borrowing & tax cuts announced last week clearly can’t command market or voter confidence,” he said on Twitter.
Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have insisted their £45 billion package of tax cuts is the “right plan” to get the economy moving despite chaos on the financial markets and fears of rocketing mortgage bills.
In their first public comments since the pound hit a record low on Monday, neither the prime minister nor the chancellor commented directly on the turmoil created by his mini-budget.
During a round of BBC local radio interviews, Truss said the government had to take “urgent action” to kick-start the economy and protect consumers from rising energy costs.
And during a visit to an engine plant in Darlington, Kwarteng said the package he announced in the Commons on Friday was “absolutely essential” if the economy was to generate the revenues needed to fund public services.
