Labour poll lead dips before UK election, but Conservatives still far behind

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks during a Labour general election campaign event, in Norton Canes, Britain July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

LONDON (Reuters) - The Labour Party's lead over the governing Conservatives narrowed in an opinion poll published on Tuesday, two days before Britain's general election, but Keir Starmer's centre-left party remains on course for a comfortable victory.

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks during a Labour general election campaign event, in Norton Canes, Britain July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

The poll by Redfield and Wilton showed the Conservatives up 3 percentage points on 22%, while Labour dipped 1 percentage point to 41%. Labour's lead dropped below 20 percentage points for the first time since March 10, the pollster said.

The right-wing Reform UK Party, whose surge in popularity during the campaign has threatened to take votes away from the Conservatives, fell 2 percentage points to 16%.

Redfield and Wilton surveyed 20,000 people between June 28 and July 2.

Reuters has compiled data from more than 50 different polls produced by nine different polling firms during the election campaign to track the backing for the five most popular parties that are running nationwide.

That data shows a slight narrowing of the Labour lead in the last five polls.

(Reporting by William James and Anand Katakam; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)