The Conservatives are on course to win a small majority at the election, according to a new opinion poll which shows the party's lead rising to nine points.

The latest daily YouGov survey for the Sun put the Tories up three points to 39 per cent, with Labour down one to 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats down one to 18 per cent. If repeated at the election on a uniform swing, the latest figures would leave David Cameron 14 seats short of an overall majority.

But with the Tories expected to achieve a greater swing in the marginals, a lead of this size should be enough to give Cameron a small majority.

Elsewhere, a new Harris survey for the free newspaper Metro also put the Conservatives nine points ahead of Labour. The poll showed the Tories unchanged on 37 per cent, with Labour rising one point to 28 per cent and the Liberal Democrats unchanged on 19 per cent.