Latest poll (YouGov/Sun) Conservatives 58 seats short of a majority.

The row triggered by Gordon Brown's description of a voter as a "bigoted woman" has failed to damage support for Labour, according to the first opinion poll to be carried out since the affair.

The latest daily YouGov survey for the Sun has the Conservaties unchanged on 34 per cent, with Labour also unchanged on 27 per cent and the Lib Dems down three to 28 per cent. If repeated at the election on a uniform swing, the latest figures would leave David Cameron 58 seats short of a majority in a hung parliament.

New Statesman Poll of Polls

Hung Parliament, Conservatives 57 seats short.

Elsewhere, the latest Angus Reid survey for the Economist magazine put the Tories up one to 33 per cent, the Lib Dems down three to 30 per cent, with Labour unchanged on 23 per cent. However, the fieldwork for the poll ended last Monday, meaning it did not capture the reaction to Brown's remarks.

The Economist, which backed Labour at the last two elections, endorses the Conservatives in this week's issue. The magazine backed the Tories as the party most likely to reduce the size of the state.