William Hague's efforts to reposition the Conservative Party have failed to make an impression on Labour's lead in the polls, new evidence on Tuesday confirmed.

A fresh poll published on Tuesday shows Labour on 47 per cent - a 15 per cent lead over the Tories. An ICM poll for the Guardian found that despite the resignation of Peter Mandelson and a raft of voter-friendly pledges on tax by Michael Portillo, the Tories' support has dropped by two points to 32 per cent. The poll also found that support for the Liberal Democrats had dropped by one point to 15 per cent in comparison with a poll last month.

With just over 10 weeks to go until a likely polling day the poll is bad news for the Tory leader. If a general election was called this week and the poll figures translated into the vote share then Tony Blair would be returned to Downing Street with an even bigger majority.

In the 1997 election, which produced a Labour majority of 179, Labour won 43.4 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives 30.8 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 16.8 per cent.