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Half of Britons Want Blair Out This Year
- Many adults in Britain believe their prime minister should step down in the next four months, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 44 per cent of respondents want Tony Blair to resign at this month's Labour party conference, while 14 per cent want him to quit before the end of the year.
In May 2005, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. Labour leader Blair has served as prime minister since 1997. Current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has been mentioned as his possible replacement.
On Sept. 7, Blair announced his eventual retirement from politics, saying, "The next party conference in a couple of weeks will be my last as party leader. I'm not going to set a precise date now. I'll do that at a future date. The precise timetable has to be left up to me and to be done in a proper way."
Labour parliamentarian John McDonnell has said he intends to challenge Brown if a leadership election takes place. Other possible contenders include education secretary Alan Johnson, former health secretary Alan Milburn, environment secretary David Miliband, and home secretary John Reid.
Last week, Brown said he does not expect to be anointed as the next Labour leader, saying, "I am happy for there to be a leadership contest. I think there should be."
Polling Data
Tony Blair has said he will step down as Labour party leader and prime minister well before the next general election. When would you prefer him to announce his resignation and start the process of electing a new leader?
At this month's Labour party conference | 44% |
Before the end of this year | 14% |
Early next year | 7% |
Next summer | 4% |
Later next year | 3% |
In 2008 | 5% |
At the very end of this Parliament | 9% |
Don't know | 14% |
Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,504 British adults, conducted on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
