65 percent of UK voters say PM Brown is a liability
1 Aug 2008, 1231 Hrs

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London, Aug 1 (ANI): Sixty-five percent of people participating in a Daily Telegraph/YouGov survey in Britain are of the view that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has become a political liability, but add that ditching him would not save Labour from a general election defeat.

According to the poll, only one voter in seven believes he is fit for the job of prime minister.

Only Tony Blair, Brown's predecessor, is still viewed as being more popular with voters than Brown, but even he would lose to Tory leader David Cameron.

The poll shows that none of the Cabinet ministers who might seriously challenge Brown would improve Labour's standing with the electorate.

On Wednesday, Number 10 authorised a campaign of briefing against the "disloyal" and "immature" Foreign Secretary.

However, amid growing talk that dozens of MPs and ministers are ready to back Miliband, Brown himself showed signs of retreat and Downing Street even issued a statement backing him.

"We agree with David that the whole party should pull together, take the fight to the Tories and focus on dealing with the real issues affecting people's lives," it said.

And in another sign of Brown's dwindling authority, not a single Cabinet minister yesterday spoke out in support of the Prime Minister, despite repeated requests from Downing Street for public shows of loyalty.

His ministers' reluctance to fully endorse Brown chimes with voters' dramatic loss of confidence in him.

Just 15 per cent of voters questioned by YouGov this week said they believe that Brown is "is up to the job".

Only Sir John Major has ever recorded such a low approval rating, in 1995, two years before his Conservative Government suffered the worst election defeat in modern history.

The poll, carried out between Tuesday and Thursday this week, confirms that Labour remains far behind David Cameron's Conservatives.

The Tories are on 47 per cent and Labour is on 25 per cent, a 22-point lead that would give Cameron a landslide victory at a general election.

YouGov elicited the opinions of 1,949 adults across Great Britain online between July 29 and 31. The data have been weighted to conform to the demographic profile of British adults as a whole. (ANI)