Channel 4 confirms the Brown bounce

Channel 4's poll of marginals may prove to be a better guide to current voter perceptions than those released over the weekend.

It reveals that

The Tory lead over Labour in key battleground seats has reduced from 13 to just five points since the recent economic troubles,

which would give the Tories a majority of around 50 if repeated at an election compared to over 100 when the poll was last carried out in September.

And it seems the message from Brown might be getting through

Sixty one per cent of the sample blamed the current economic problems on irresponsible lending by banks in the US and elsewhere, with only 21 per cent saying the government's tax and spending policies were to blame.

although

58 per cent agreed with the statement that, as a former chancellor, Gordon Brown bears a lot of responsibility for the current banking crisis.