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Further slide in Brown’s popularity

LONDON: Gordon Brown woke up to his first Christmas as Prime Minister to the gloomy news that British voters, including many Labour supporters, were clamouring for a change in government with a majority saying they found his Tory rival, the youthful David Cameron, more “likeable.”

An opinion poll for the pro-Labour Independent newspaper indicated a further slide in Mr. Brown’s standing as Prime Minister, barely six months after he took over promising a new era in British politics after Tony Blair’s bruising leadership.

Only 36 per cent of the voters said they preferred a Labour government to a Conservative one, while 48 per cent believed that it was “time for change” and described the Tories as the “government-in-waiting.”

When asked whom they liked more, 51 per cent said they found Mr. Cameron more likeable as against 31 per cent who preferred Mr. Brown. Mr. Cameron was also seen to have a “more able” frontbench than the Prime Minister’s team of Ministers.

The only area where Mr. Brown scored was economy with 44 per cent saying they believed he was the “best person” to take the economy through a potentially difficult time in 2008. Only 36 per cent trusted the Tories on economy.

More voters plumped for Mr. Cameron when asked who was the best person to be Prime Minister. Some 39 per cent preferred him while 37 per cent voted for Mr. Brown.

In a sign of growing concern within the Labour Party, head of the Labour-affiliated Fabian Society has warned that there is a possibly of the party losing the next election unless the Brown government pulls up its socks.

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