November 22, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - In just one month, the number of people in Britain who have a good impression of Gordon Brown has considerably decreased, according to a poll by YouGov. 33 per cent of respondents think Brown is doing well as head of government, down 26 points since October.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - In just one month, the number of people in Britain who have a good impression of Gordon Brown has considerably decreased, according to a poll by YouGov. 33 per cent of respondents think Brown is doing well as head of government, down 26 points since October.

Conversely, 43 per cent of respondents think the Labour party leader is doing badly, up 14 points in a month.

In June, 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.

On Nov. 19, in his first speech related to the environment, Brown called for a "technological revolution" in Britain to combat the effects of global warming, saying, "In the past, the steam engine, the internal combustion engine and the microprocessor transformed not just technology but the way society was organized and the way people lived. Now we are about to embark on a comparable technological transformation, to low-carbon energy and energy efficiency."

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?

	Nov. 2007	Oct. 2007	Sept. 2007
Doing well	33%	59%	62%
Doing badly	43%	29%	23%

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,983 British adults, conducted from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16, 2007. No margin of error was provided.