(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Britain’s governing Labour party continues to face a downward trend as the opposition gains momentum, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, while 32 per cent would back Labour.

The Liberal Democrats are third with 17 per cent—up four points in a month—and 10 per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for the Tories increased by one point since early November, while backing for Labour fell by three points.

In June, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Tony 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, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot.

In March 2006, the Liberal Democrats chose foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell as their new leader. On Oct. 15, Campbell tendered his resignation. A leadership ballot of party members is currently underway, and the new Lib-Dem leader will be announced on Dec. 17. Campbell’s possible successors are environment spokesman Chris Huhne and current parliamentarian Nick Clegg.

On Nov. 27, Brown ordered an investigation into donations for his party worth about $1.2 million U.S. that exceeded legal amounts. The money, donated by property developer David Abrahams, was given to Labour through intermediaries beginning in 2003. John Whitty, a former Labour general secretary, began the inquiry the following day.

This week, British newspaper The Guardian published a report suggesting Labour officials helped Abrahams find loopholes in donation laws so he could give the money to the party. On Dec. 6, Francis Maude, the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office and the Conservatives’ chief representative in talks on political funding reform, urged British authorities to review the new allegations, saying the story was "something the police would want to look at very urgently" because "that totally destroys any pretence that only a tiny number of people knew what was happening."

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

How would you vote if there were a general election tomorrow? Which party are you most inclined to support?

Source: Ipsos-MORI
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 528 absolutely certain British voters, conducted from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

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