Much of the blame for Labour's weakness seems to lie on the prime minister's shoulders. Asked to rank Brown as a party leader, he lags far behind his predecessor: 67% of voters think Blair did a better job. He also lags behind Conservative rivals: 51% of all voters, and even 35% of people who backed Labour in 2005, think Major was better. Brown beats only William Hague, by a narrow eight points, Iain Duncan Smith, by 30 points and Charles Kennedy, by 19 points.So Brown is now less popular than Major. That must be a little disheartening, particularly given Major's fate in the 1997 election. Still, at least he can take some comfort from the fact that he is beating Iain Duncan Smith. Then again, Iain Duncan Smith's party never let him fight a general election, and if the rumblings are to be believed, then Brown may not be allowed to fight a general election himself.
"...I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are..."
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Stats of the Week
Looking at Gordon Brown's popularity, via The Guardian:
The problem is that the Labour party has such a Byzantine system of election - and one that is so costly, for a practically bankrupt party - the only option open to them is to either pray for a miracle, or pray for Gordon to resign.
ReplyDeleteMajor's government fell apart around him, but Brown is actively destroying his own support.
ReplyDelete