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Half of Britons Say Brown Worse than Blair
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Half of adults in Britain are disappointed with Gordon Brown, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 49 per cent of respondents think the current prime minister is doing a worse job than Tony Blair, and 27 per cent believe he is just as bad as the former head of government.
In June 2007, Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.
Since December 2005, David Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In October 2007, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot.
On Jun. 27, Michael Levy—Labour’s former chief fundraiser—said the party should consider choosing a new leader, adding, "I certainly, seeing the polls, would have to say that this is something that needs to be very seriously considered."
The next election to the House of Commons must be held on or before Jun. 3, 2010. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve Parliament and call an early ballot at their discretion.
Polling Data
It is almost exactly a year since Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair as prime minister. On balance, how would you rate Gordon Brown as as prime minister compared with Tony Blair?
|
He is doing a better job than Tony Blair |
3% |
|
He is doing a worse job than Tony Blair |
49% |
|
He is neither better nor worse: he is just as good as Blair was |
15% |
|
He is neither better nor worse: he is just as bad as Blair was |
27% |
|
Not sure |
6% |
Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,163 British voters, conducted from Jun. 23 to Jun. 25, 2008. No margin of error was provided.