Blair's Labour set to win

2005-04-19 09:48

London - Britain's Labour Party appeared on Tuesday to be heading for another big election win on May 5 as new surveys put the party well ahead of its rivals despite waning popularity for Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Labour's lead on the main opposition Conservatives ranged from 10 percentage points in a Financial Times survey to five in a poll in the Independent.

A third, published in The Times newspaper, put the party nine points clear.

The Financial Times survey, by research institute MORI, did not say how much the support level had changed from the last poll, but it put Labour on 41%, the Conservatives on 31% and the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats on 21%.

The Populus poll for The Times, however, found that Labour's popularity had risen three percentage points from a survey conducted two weeks ago to 40%, while the Tories fell four points to 31% and the Liberal Democrats had inched up two to 21.

"Labour is heading for another big majority in the face of a faltering Conservative challenge," the daily said in a front page article.

If the same figures were repeated when Britain goes to the polls in just over two weeks, Labour will have a majority in the House of Commons of more than 100, which - while smaller than its landslide victory of 165 at the 2001 election - would ensure Blair a record third, successive term in government.

The Independent's survey, by pollsters NOP, also pointed to a Labour triumph but noted that the party would be even more popular if finance minister Gordon Brown were leader instead of Blair.

The survey put Labour on 37%, down one point since the previous week, with the Conservatives unchanged on 32% and the Liberal Democrats remaining on 21%.

Labour, however, would have attracted a massive 48% of the vote had Brown been in charge rather than Blair, whose popularity has plummeted in the wake of his decision to take the country to war in Iraq, the survey said.

It found that about 23% of those who currently intend to vote Liberal Democrat would switch to a Brown-led Labour Party - as would 16% of Conservatives.

The survey highlighted Blair's "trust" problem.

While only 17% of people said they trusted the prime minister to keep his promises, 30% trusted the chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) and 37% said they trusted neither man.

Despite the lukewarm support for Blair, a raft of polls released in recent days have consistently showed Labour with a healthy lead over its rivals.

Populus quizzed 1 000 adults between April 14 and 17, while MORI and NOP interviewed 958 adults and 1 005 respectively from April 15 to 18.

- AFP