ZERO TO HERO Rishi Sunak’s delay on petrol car ban gives him eight point surge in polls

THE PM’s decision to stall the Net Zero ban on selling new petrol cars has seen him catch up eight points in the polls.

It has cut the Labour lead to 16 percentage points — down from 24 just ten days earlier.

While still a hefty gap, Tories were last night taking comfort in the speed and scale of Rishi Sunak’s comeback.

Survey firm Deltapoll found Labour fell three points to 44, with the Conservatives up five to 28.

Pollsters quizzed voters through last weekend, in the immediate days after Mr Sunak pushed back the Net Zero car deadline from 2030 to 2035.

A separate poll by Redfield & Wilton showed Labour’s lead down to 15 points from 18 a week ago.

It found that while nearly half of voters expect a Labour government after the next election, almost a third still think the Tories could scrape it.

Mr Sunak — who yesterday visited a breakfast club at a community centre in Wormley, Herts — has also seen his personal approval rating go up by seven points to -14.

Sir Keir Starmer remained ahead on +9.

But experts said the Labour leader was on the back foot after he suggested he would be happy to join Europe-wide asylum sharing.He also told a conference he did not want to “diverge from the EU” — defeating the point of Brexit.

Last night Tory MP Craig Mackinlay pointed to the “marked narrowing on the back of more realistic commitments on Net Zero”.

He added: “Sir Keir’s confused policies are not going down well.”

Former minister Brendan Clarke-Smith said the PM’s Net Zero climbdown went down “incredibly well”, adding: “Keir Starmer has already demonstrated that he can’t withstand scrutiny with his flip-flopping.”

Tory vice-chairman Lee Anderson said: “It comes as no surprise that the gap is narrowing after we announced policies that appeal to the public.”