David Cameron and George Osborne are increasingly regarded by the public as the best team to handle the British economy, a new poll suggests.
One in three believe the Tory leadership provides the best option for the country as it emerges out its economic downturn. This compares to just 18% who believe Ed Miliband and his shadow chancellor Ed Balls would be the best custodians of the economy - down 3 points on polling carried out last summer.
Just 7% said the Nick Clegg and business secretary Vince Cable were the ones they would trust the most with the economy while 30% said they do not trust any of the leadership teams and the rest told pollsters they do not know.
The Opinium/Observer poll will come as a major blow to Labour who last week sought to flesh out their economic vision.
His proposals put Lloyds and RBS in the line of fire, and his promise to break them up hit their share price on Friday, as the shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna had predicted might happen.
However it would appear that Miliband faces an uphill struggle to persuade the public that Labour can be trusted to look after the economy.
It would appear that even many of its own voters are not convinced that the two men at the top of the party are the best option for the country. Half (53%) said they would choose Miliband and Balls over the rest to handle the economy but that compared to 88% of Conservative voters who choose the prime minister and chancellor.
A quarter of Labour voters said they did not trust any of the mainstream parties in a finding that may give hope to Nigel Farage's Ukip, which often proves to be the choice of the voters disaffected with Miliband's party. Meanwhile Labour has dropped one percentage point over the last two weeks to 36% in the polls - just six points ahead of the Tories on 30%. The Liberal Democrats remain at 8%. Ukip is on 17%.
