LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May made a public climbdown on Monday over plans to force elderly people to pay more for their social care, after her governing Conservative Party’s opinion poll lead halved in the run-up to a national election.

In her biggest misstep of the campaign to date, May set out plans last week to transfer a greater share of the cost of care for the elderly from taxpayers to recipients who can afford to fund it themselves.

That raised concerns some might see their houses sold off after their deaths to pay for care received, rather than passed on to their descendants. May’s opponents dubbed it a “dementia tax”, saying it will particularly hit those who need long-term care at home.

“We will make sure nobody has to sell their family home to pay for care. We will make sure there’s an absolute limit on what people need to pay … so you will always have something to pass on to your family,” May said on Monday.

She said opponents and the media had misrepresented the policy proposal which she called part of an important attempt to change the care system in an ageing society.

But May appeared flustered as she faced questions from journalists about her announcement of a cap.

“Nothing has changed, nothing has changed, we are offering a long-term solution for the sustainability of social care for the future,” she said, shaking her head and raising her voice as it was described as a U-turn by journalists.

“Nothing has changed.” When May called a snap election for June 8, surveys indicated she would win a landslide comparable with Margaret Thatcher’s 1983 majority of 144 seats in the 650-seat parliament.

That picture changed after both the Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party set out their election pitches to voters last week, with a Survation poll published on Monday showed May’s lead over Labour had halved to 9 percentage points.

It followed surveys over the weekend suggesting the gap had narrowed.

Trust the polls?

May had sought to poach traditional Labour supporters with a mix of pledges more radical than those of her predecessor, David Cameron.

A YouGov poll on Saturday found 40 per cent of the public were opposed to the change to elderly care provision while 35 per cent were supportive. It also showed 49 per cent opposed May’s plan to tighten the criteria for raising the state pension each year, compared to 30 per cent who supported it.

May called the election to strengthen her hand in negotiations on Britain’s departure from the European Union and win more time to deal with the impact of the divorce. But if she gains less than an impressive majority, her electoral gamble will have failed.

With polls showing the Conservatives’ lead over Labour down from 20 points or more earlier in the campaign, May is projected to win a smaller majority of around 40 seats.

But many are sceptical of the headline poll numbers after surveys failed to correctly predict Britain’s last national election in 2015, as well as the 2016 EU referendum and Donald Trump’s US election victory.

Pollsters have said their 2015 findings significantly overestimated support for Labour. While they have since adjusted their methodology to seek to address this, it will not be known until June 9 whether they have now gone too far the other way.

Survation said in a blog alongside its data that respondents “were more likely to say that Labour, rather than the Conservatives, had the best policies for young people, families with young children, managing the National Health Service, improving the education system and older people and pensioners.” Britain’s pound edged lower after the polls showed May’s lead had fallen, trading down 0.2 per cent against the dollar and flirting with a fall back below $1.30.