Conservatives extend lead over Labour

London: Britain's opposition Conservative Party has extended its lead over the governing Labour Party according to two polls on Sunday, reversing surveys which had suggested Prime Minister Gordon Brown was narrowing the gap.

An Ipsos MORI poll for the Observer newspaper showed the centre-right Conservatives on 43 per cent, a six point surge since last month, with a 17-point lead over Brown's Labour which was down five points on 26 per cent.

Majority

Meanwhile a YouGov poll for the People newspaper put the Conservatives on 40 per cent and Labour on 28 per cent. Both polls would give Conservative leader David Cameron a majority of more than 50 seats in parliament, the papers said.

The findings contradict polls last week which had suggested that Brown was closing on the Conservatives with parliamentary elections due by the middle of next year.