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Labour polling 'worse than under Foot'

30/05/2008

Labour is suffering worst polling results than were ever experienced under failed 1980s leader Michael Foot, a new poll suggests.

The May YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph puts Gordon Brown's party on 23 per cent, slipping three per cent in the wake of disastrous local election results and the Crewe and Nantwich by-election defeat.

Mr Foot, widely regarded as one of the party's most unsuccessful leaders, never fell below 23.5 per cent. Labour is now at its lowest rating since the second world war.

By contrast the Conservatives have continued to make progress, despite the government's £2.7 billion tax cut concession over the 10p income tax rate fiasco. The Tories are up three points to 47 per cent, taking their overall lead to 24 per cent.

Three-quarters of Britons say they are dissatisfied with Mr Brown as prime minister, the poll suggests.

His premiership's clear link to economic competence may be responsible for this, as the percentage thinking Labour is more likely to run the economy well has slumped from 49 per cent in 2005 to just 22 per cent now.

Tory leader David Cameron has seen support for his leadership jump in the last month. Thirty-nine per cent now think he would make the best prime minister, compared to 32 per cent in April.

The Liberal Democrats are up one point to 18 per cent, just five per cent behind Labour. But only seven per cent think Nick Clegg would make the best prime minister, raising questions about his leadership.

A group of Blairite Labour MPs have begun to push Mr Brown more openly away from the left. Writing for thinktank Progress' magazine, the quintet argue middle-class voters need to be targeted if the party is to prevent what appears to be a landslide in the next general election.

Sally Keeble, MP for Northampton North, said "middle England has moved on" from 1997 and "needs to know that we have moved on to", while Shona McIsaac wrote that "the government has been bloody awful at pointing out that things did get better".