British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a damning verdict from voters ahead of his first anniversary in power, a Guardian/ICM poll published yesterday said.
It suggests that his prime ministership has been a disappointment: 74 percent of those questioned say that he has been a change for the worse compared with former prime minister Tony Blair, and only 24 percent think Labour has a chance of winning the next election while he remains leader.
The poll also gives the Conservatives a record 20-point lead over Labour, six points up on last month.
Labour support has fallen two points to 25 percent, the lowest recorded in the ICM polls, which began in 1984.
Conservative support, at 45 percent, is at a 20-year high. That would give Tory chief David Cameron a landslide victory as big as Labour’s win in 1997, with some 400 seats.
Labour might be reduced to well under 200 members of parliament (MPs), with many ministers set to lose their seats. The Conservatives would retain Crewe and Nantwich, won in a by-election last month, while Labour would lose previously safe seats such as Wakefield.
Conservative support has increased four points since last month’s Guardian/ICM poll, and three points since another more recent ICM poll. Labour support has dropped two points since the last Guardian survey.
Liberal Democrat support, at 20 percent, is two points down but remains only five points behind Labour, the narrowest gap on record.
Backing for other parties, at 10 percent, is up one on last month, partly because of the strong nationalist performance in Scotland.
The figures record the dramatic decline in Labour fortunes since Brown took over as leader. A year ago, Labour had a four-point lead over the Tories in the June Guardian/ICM poll. Support for the party, at 39 percent, was 14 points higher than now.
Voters also think Brown has failed personally as prime minister. Asked to rate his performance on a scale of one to 10, voters give Brown only 3.94 on average. Almost a quarter, 23 percent, give him a one.
Even people who remain loyal to Labour are unconvinced by Brown’s performance: only 4 percent give him full marks.
Among people who voted Labour in 2005, many of whom now back other parties, 54 percent give him five out of 10 or less.
Attitudes are much the same among all socioeconomic groups, all parts of the country, and between men and women.
A majority of people who backed Labour at the last election, 57 percent, also say that they do not think the party can win again with Brown as leader. Even among current Labour supporters, 38 percent think Brown cannot win.
The government has struggled to retain even its core supporters over the last year. Among people who voted Labour in 2005, only 3 percent of voters say that their impression of Brown and his party has gone up, while 46 percent say that it has gone down.
The government is also suffering from the economic downturn. Only 13 percent of respondents agree with ministerial claims that Britain’s problems are the result of global difficulties.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese