The Conservative’s vote share has dropped to its lowest level since the last general election, polling by Savanta ComRes shows.
Ahead of a crucial budget, the latest survey of voting intention shows Boris Johnson’s party has slipped to 37 per cent, down three points week-on-week.
Labour, meanwhile, stays put on 35 per cent, with the Greens picking up two points to take them to 7 per cent.
Budget
Rishi Sunak will use his Budget today to set out plans for a “stronger economy”, with higher wages, increased skills and better productivity as the UK recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
The chancellor was boosted by better-than-expected economic forecasts, but will have to address a rising cost of living.
Setting out his plans to the Cabinet, Mr Sunak promised that “strong public services, infrastructure innovation and skills, and support for working families” would be the three building blocks of this Budget.
But the announcements come against a backdrop of household income pressures caused by a cost-of-living crunch and recent Government decisions.
National insurance contributions for workers are being increased by 1.25 percentage points from April to help pay for the NHS and social care, while Mr Sunak ended the £20-a-week Universal Credit coronavirus uplift earlier this month.
Tax breaks for bankers and patriots
The chancellor also courted controversy after it was announced he is preparing to slash taxes for bankers and patriots.
Last week it was announced Sunak is planning to reduce a tax surcharge on bank profits by more than 60 per cent in the upcoming budget.
He is rumoured to be cutting the surcharge from 8 per cent to 3 per cent from April 2023 in a bid to keep banking activity in the UK healthy in an era of higher corporation tax rates.
And to add insult to injury, he has now announced that shipping companies who hoist the Union Jack on their vessels will also stand a better chance of being accepted into the UK tonnage tax scheme from April 2022, offering more generous rates to the big corp logistics companies.
“The UK has always been a proud and preeminent maritime nation, with 95 per cent of our trade in goods carried out by sea,” he told the Telegraph.
“Now we have left the EU, it’s time for us to do even more to help the UK shipping industry to grow and compete in the global market.”
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