Voters believe David Cameron has shifted rightwards while Ed Miliband has moved leftwards, polling suggests.
More than half of voters perceive the Prime Minister as right-wing and the leader of the Opposition as left-wing, in a significant shift since October 2010.
It is the latest evidence that Britain is heading for a 1992-style general election in which parties will emphasise their clear ideological differences.
It follows Mr Miliband’s promise during the Labour conference to ‘bring back socialism’. His policies include price controls for energy companies and a levy on the profits of payday loan companies.
Mr Cameron, meanwhile, told his party’s annual gathering that “profit is not a dirty word” because successful businesses are the only source of wealth and jobs. He has accused his opponent wanting to live in a “Marxist universe”.
Some 57 per cent of voters think Mr Cameron is now ‘right wing’ or ‘right of centre’, up eight points since October 2010, according to Ipsos Mori.
Ed Miliband is seen as ‘left wing’ or ‘left of centre’ by 54 per cent of voters, up 10 points over that period.
The poll has Labour and the Conservatives tied for the first time since January 2012, on 35 per cent each. The pollsters said the movement from the previous month’s poll, with the Tories rising one point and Labour falling two, was not statistically significant.
Mr Miliband has seen a surge in his personal ratings, in the wake of a summer in which he was criticised for being absent from public view. He has led a vocal campaign against the Daily Mail after it accused his father of ‘hating Britain’.
His promise to freeze energy prices proved to be the most popular announcement of the conference season, with 62 per cent of voters saying it is the best for them and half saying it is the best for the country, Ipsos Mori found.
By contrast, just 23 per cent of voters said the Tories’ flagship policy of state-backed mortgages was the best policy for them, while 33 per cent said it was the best for the country.
Now 36 per cent of voters say they are satisfied with Mr Miliband’s job performance up from 24 per cent in September. Six in ten (61 per cent) of Labour voters are satisfied with his performance as leader, his highest rating since 2010.
The number of voters who say they do not know what he stands for has fallen from 51 per cent in August to 45 per cent. Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage and David Cameron have seen little or no change in the public’s understanding of what they stand for in the same period.
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