Tories overtake Blair's Labour

2005-12-11 09:01

London - Britain's Conservatives, reinvigorated under new leader David Cameron, have overtaken Prime Minister Tony Blair's governing Labour Party in two polls published on Sunday, having consistently trailed for 13 years.

A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times put the main opposition Tories on 37%, one point ahead of Labour, while in the Sunday Telegraph, ICM had the Conservatives on 37% with Blair's party on 35%.

When asked how they would vote if finance minister Gordon Brown - likely to lead Labour at the next election - was in charge, 40% said they would vote Conservative and 37% Labour in the Sunday Telegraph survey.

The fresh-faced Cameron, 39, won the Tory leadership election on Tuesday, vowing to overhaul the party through modernisation and reform.

The Conservatives have trailed Labour in the polls since January 1993, with the exception of a single month in 2000 during fuel tax protests.

Then Tory leader William Hague said of the latest polls: "It's going to be a long haul to the next election, but these polls show it's possible for the Conservatives under David Cameron to pull ahead of Labour.

"We are facing the most exciting prospect for the Conservatives in many years," the party's foreign affairs spokesman told the News of the World newspaper.

Party chairman Francis Maude echoed his sentiments: "We seem to be at the dawn of a new era".

Another poll in The Sunday Times found 52% of respondents thought Cameron was doing well compared to 39% for Blair. Eighteen percent thought Cameron was doing badly, while 57 percent said likewise for Blair.

Cameron promises to be the kind of upstart that 52-year-old Blair was when he became Labour Party leader in 1994 at a similar age.

Blair, who ended 18 years of Conservative government in 1997, has pledged not to stand for a fourth consecutive term at the next general election, due in May 2010 at the latest. Brown, 54, is seen as his heir-in-waiting.

Taking their cue from the latest blockbuster film, The Sunday Times cast Brown as King Kong with Cameron, born into privilege, as an ace fighter pilot aiming to gun him down.

"Coming soon: King Con v Toff Gun", the broadsheet said.

Cameron called Blair "stuck in the past" and portrayed himself as a man of the future during the first head-to-head in parliament on Wednesday.

"He was the future once," Cameron said.

YouGov polled 2 089 adults online on December 6-8.

ICM interviewed 1 003 random adults by telephone on December 7-8.

- SAPA