General election: Conservatives on course to win twice as many votes as Labour, latest poll reveals

The Conservatives are on course to receive twice as many votes as Labour in the forthcoming general election, a new opinion poll has suggested.

Theresa May's party is on on 48 points, compared to Labour's 24, with the Liberal Democrats on 12 and Ukip falling to seven, according to the YouGov/Times survey.

It reflects the highest level of support the Conservatives have enjoyed in nine years – up four per cent from a poll carried out last week before the surprise announcement of the election.

The last time the Tories enjoyed this level of support was in May 2008 at the start of a global recession, when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister and Labour also trailed in the polls by 24 points.

When asked who would make the best Prime Minister, 54 per cent of the 1,727 people polled said Theresa May, while only 15 per cent backed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Just nine per cent of those who voted to leave in the EU referendum backed Mr Corbyn, and only 32 per cent of those who voted Labour in 2015 thought he would make a better PM than Ms May.

Just 12 per cent of Labour voters polled think the party will win a majority on 8 June, according to the poll.

Support for Ukip has dropped by three points in the last week, from 10 to 7 per cent, while the Lib Dems are unchanged on 12.

The poll also revealed 49 per cent of people were in favour of the snap election, in spite of fears over voter apathy. A total of 33 per cent said they were against it, while 27 per cent said they did not know.