The Tories have not commissioned any private polls since the general election was called, the party chairman Michael Ancram said on Thursday.

Questioned about what the party's private polls were saying, Ancram claimed that the Tories had not ordered any polls since the election was called.

Party sources later confirmed that the Tories had not conducted any polls over the last three months.

Labour has continued polling throughout the election campaign, with the latest poll showing the party to be on course for a second landslide victory.

Ancram said that the Conservatives were more concerned with the message they were getting on the ground.

"The situation is very different from the polls out in the country," he said. "I'm following my nose and I'm asking our supporters to follow their nose."

However, the party is understood to have privately warned some candidates defending slender majorities in London and the south east that their seats are in doubt.