A poll just released suggests public support for Labour is draining away, with one survey even putting Tony Blair's party in third place for the first time in more than 20 years. A poll for the News of the World put Labour on just 28% as it goes into what will probably be its last annual conference before a general election in the spring, one point behind the Liberal Democrats on 29% and four behind the Conservatives on 32%. The last time Labour plumbed such depths was under the leadership of Michael Foot, and the party has not trailed both of its main rivals since the heyday of the SDP/Liberal Alliance in the early 1980s.
But a second survey for the Independent on Sunday suggested that Labour was still on top by a narrow margin, with a rating of 32% against the Tories' 30% and the Lib Dems' 27%. Both polls were conducted at the end of a successful conference week for Charles Kennedy's Lib Dems, and each recorded a seven-point boost for the party. They suggest that the issue of Iraq and the ongoing crisis over British hostage Kenneth Bigley are seriously damaging Labour ratings. And they indicate the mountain Mr Blair must climb in order to win voters' enthusiasm for the domestic policy agenda he is hoping to launch this week in Brighton.
The IoS poll found that Mr Blair is considered out of touch and inflexible by as many people as said the same of Margaret Thatcher just before her downfall in 1990. Some 63% said he was out of touch with ordinary people and 57% that he was inflexible, compared to 63% and 35% for Mrs Thatcher in September 1990. The poll suggested Labour would re-establish a clear lead if Chancellor Gordon Brown replaced Mr Blair as leader, with 36% saying they would then vote Labour, against 30% for the Tories and 24% Lib Dem. |