(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The number of people in Britain who think that the prime minister is not performing well has increased, according to a poll by YouGov. 78 per cent of respondents think Gordon Brown is doing badly as head of government, up 13 points in a month.

In June 2007, 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 2007, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot. 61 per cent of respondents think Cameron is doing a good job as opposition leader, up 10 points since April.

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 May 1, Labour suffered major losses in local elections. Final results show the Tories received 44 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by the Lib-Dems with 25 per cent, and Labour with 24 per cent. In London’s mayoral race, former magazine editor Boris Johnson of the Conservatives defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone.

Earlier this month, Brown launched "Ask the PM"—a section on the government’s website that will allow people to ask him questions by posting videos. The prime minister said the deadline for posting the questions is Jun. 21, after which he will respond "some time soon." In his introductory video, Brown declares: "I am here to answer your questions. Politicians get the chance in prime minister’s questions. (...) I think it is time the public had a chance."

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 1,854 British voters, conducted on May 15 and May 16, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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