(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The opposition Conservative party remains the most popular political organization in Britain, according to a poll by ICM Research published in The Guardian. 37 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next general election.

The governing Labour party is second with 32 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 21 per cent. Ten per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for the Tories fell by one point since late May, while backing for Labour dropped by two points.

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 Tony Blair has served as prime minister since 1997. In October 2004, Blair vowed to retire at the end of his third term in office. Current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has been mentioned as his possible replacement.

Since December 2005, David Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In March, the Liberal Democrats chose foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell as their new leader.

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Cameron said Blair is "out of touch" in the issue of crime, adding, "you cannot be the right person to sort it out." The prime minister then criticized the Tory leader for his stance on border security, saying, "The electronic borders system we are introducing is important and if we want to keep track of people in this country, in the end, we are going to have to face up to the difficult decision on identity cards. If you are still against that, you cannot be serious about making sure we know exactly who is and should be in our country."

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.

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