THE Labour Party has overtaken the Liberal Democrats in the Colchester constituency according to a poll published by the former Conservative Party Treasurer Lord Ashcroft.

The poll, published on Friday, shows the Labour party at 23 per cent of the vote, with the Lib Dems slipping into third place with 22 per cent.

The Conservatives still hold a strong lead at 52 per cent, with a likelihood of a Tory victory in the election on June 8 still at 98 per cent.

The Colchester constituency was held by Liberal Democrat politician Bob Russell from 1997 to 2015, where he was re-elected in the 2001, 2005 and 2010 elections before being beaten by Conservative Will Quince in 2015.