ICM poll finds support for PM tapering off
An ICM poll for the Guardian has found public backing for Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair at its lowest since the petrol crisis two and half years ago.
The telephone poll of 1001 over-18 interviewees between June 20 and 22 put the PM’s personal rating at minus 13, compared with plus eight during the Iraq war.
The PM may take some comfort from the fact that public support for Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith showed no discernible improvement. Mr. Duncan Smith currently trails at minus 20 and among his own party supporters sits embarrassingly at minus two.
Undoubtedly, the full ramifications of the US-led Iraq War on the Labour leadership have yet to be fully plotted.
Some analysts contend the so-called ‘dodgy dossier’, backbench ire and unease, and the conspicuous absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, may return to haunt the PM near general election time.
On top of this Mr. Blair has had to handle the euro ‘not yet’ decision, tax increase and top up fees.
Still, Labour leads the other parties in terms of overall support. Support for the Government presently stands on 38%, but this is down three points on last month and, crucially, leaves the Tories just four points behind, now at 34%, up five points. The Liberal Democrats are unchanged on 21%.
YouGov, an internet-based pollster and rival of ICM concurred with the findings in today’s Guardian regarding the PM’s current public standing.
Speaking on the ITV Evening News, Stephen Shakespeare said the public’s trust in the Labour leadership was at a low after the revelations about the way intelligence was used in the build up to the Iraq War
‘Tony Blair’s trust figures used to be very high. In the last few week’s they have plummeted and only 26% of the public now think that Tony Blair can be trusted to tell the truth.’
