Labour cuts Tory poll lead to 5%

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But the upturn in fortunes was not shared by Prime Minister Gordon Brown whose personal popularity remained at minus 24%, far lower than Conservative rival David Cameron's plus 22% rating.

And voters expressed more confidence in the Tories' ability to handle the economy as well, although more than 43% could not decide who would perform best on the crucial issue.

The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times gave the Tories 40% and Labour 35%, a result which could produce a hung Parliament if it was repeated at a general election.

New Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg saw his party gain a point to 15%.

The survey also found Britons in pessimistic mood about next year, with more (32%) expecting their finances to worsen than improve (23%) in 2008.

Only 11% think Britain will be a better place to live in five years' time and just 29% of Labour supporters believe the country has improved over the past five years.

Almost half (46%) said they would rather live elsewhere - with one in five choosing New Zealand as their preferred country to relocate to, making it the most popular choice.

But despite that, the numbers who said they were proud to be British increased from 70% to 75% - even going up among Scots despite the recent election victory for the Scottish National Party. Anti-social behaviour and immigration were named as worries by more than half of those polled (59% and 57%) - up from 44% and 47% last year.

YouGov polled 1,566 people between December 20-27.