(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Britain remain critical of the way Gordon Brown’s administration is handling its duties, according to a poll by YouGov. 78 per cent of respondents think the prime minister is doing badly in office, unchanged since May.

Conversely, 63 per cent of respondents think Conservative leader David Cameron is doing a good job, up two points in a month.

In June 2007, 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, 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.

In December 2007, current parliamentarian Nick Clegg became the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, defeating environment spokesman Chris Huhne in a leadership ballot by just over 500 votes.

On Jun. 17, official numbers showed that Britain experienced the highest inflation rate in 18 years in the month of May, at 3.3 per cent. Bank of England governor Mervyn King warned that the rate can be higher in the next few months, saying, "As things stand, inflation is likely to rise sharply in the second half of the year, to above 4 per cent."

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

Do you think Gordon Brown is doing well or badly as prime minister?

Do you think David Cameron is doing well or badly as Conservative leader?

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,769 British voters, conducted on Jun. 12 and Jun. 13, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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