Kelly death knocks Blair’s popularity
The death of government scientist Dr David Kelly has dented the public’s confidence in the Prime Minister.
The body of Dr Kelly, an Iraq arms expert who found himself embroiled in a row between the BBC and the government over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction claims, was discovered near his Oxfordshire home on Friday.
Labour’s lead over the Conservatives has shrunk to just two points as the finger of blame for Dr Kelly’s apparent suicide is pointed at the government and the media.
Two months ago, as a result of a “Baghdad bounce” following the war in Iraq, the government enjoyed a 12 point lead over the Conservatives and Mr Blair’s personal rating stood at plus seven points.
The July Guardian/ICM opinion poll shows that Tony Blair’s reputation for competence and trustworthiness has been severely damaged by the scientist’s death.
The continuing row over alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has also led to the public questioning the Prime Minister’s reliability.
Mr Blair’s personal rating has fallen a further four points in the last month and now stands at minus 17 points, with just 37 per cent of respondents happy with the job he is doing as premier and 54 per cent unhappy.
The majority of the ICM poll was carried out on Friday and Saturday, following Dr Kelly’s death, but before the BBC confirmed that he had been their main source for Andrew Gilligan’s allegations in his report on the Today programme that the government “sexed up” the first dossier on Iraq’s banned weapons.
A Mori poll for another newspaper revealed that a quarter of voters who supported Labour at the last election have now switched their allegiance.
Most of those surveyed said they had done so because of a lack of trust in the Government’s ability to improve public services.
However, the ICM survey also showed that Mr Blair’s rating with Labour voters remains relatively high, with 75 per cent saying they are satisfied with the job he is doing and 86 per cent seeing him as competent.
In the wider electorate his standing is less certain, a mere 39 per cent of the population view him as trustworthy, 34 per cent see him as “in touch with ordinary people”, though 59 per cent believe he is still a competent leader.
The results of recent polls are likely to place still more pressure on the beleaguered Prime Minister as he continues on a diplomatic tour of the Far East.
Mr Blair faced tough questioning from Chinese students in Beijing over his role in Dr Kelly’s death and the war in Iraq.
He told them, “This is a desperately sad time for the family of Dr Kelly and his funeral’s not been held yet and I don’t want to say more about that situation except to say there will be a proper independent inquiry into what happened.”
