Labour has posted a slight increase in its poll lead over the Tories even as voters claim that Theresa May is a better choice of prime minister than Jeremy Corbyn.

After a fortnight of political turmoil over the Westminster sex scandal, Labour inched up one point to reach 43 per cent on voting intention. This put Corbyn’s party three ahead of the Tories, who were unchanged on 40 per cent.

The research, carried out by YouGov for The Times, showed however that the public favour May over Corbyn to run the country.

May registered a one point increase, to 34 per cent, on the question of who would make the best prime minister while Corbyn fell back two points to 31 per cent.

There is hope for both main parties, however, as a huge 35 per cent of people answered “don’t know” when asked to choose a potential PM.

The poll was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, after the resignation of Sir Michael Fallon as defence secretary but before Priti Patel was forced to leave the Department for International Development.

Times/YouGov poll

Which would make the best prime minister?

Theresa May 34 per cent (+1)

Jeremy Corbyn 31 per cent (-2)

Don’t know 35 per cent

Voting intention

Labour 43 per cent (+1)

Conservatives 40 per cent (no change)

Lib Dems 6 per cent (-2)

Others 10 per cent

Research was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday.