Can Brown resist an 11 point lead?

A new YouGov poll puts Labour 11 points ahead and further increases the pressure on Gordon Brown to call an election in the next few days. There’s little doubt that these numbers will strike fear into the hearts of Conservatives. The consolation for them is that this is about as bad as it gets. The survey was taken just after Brown had spoken at conference; the moment one would expect to be the high-water mark of Labour support.

There are even some encouraging numbers in there for the Tories. Only 29 percent believe that it would be in Britain’s best interests to hold an election this year—suggesting that there might be a minor backlash against Labour if Brown does go early. Interestingly enough, it is Labour supporters who are most cautious about a poll this year with only 36 percent of them favouring one compared to 39 percent of Lib Dems and 46 percent of Conservatives.

PS We’ve just posted another instalment of Jon Cruddas’s conference diary which is well worth a read.