(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s governing Labour party continues to trail the opposition Conservatives, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 45 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points since early May.

Labour is second with 25 per cent—down four points in a month—followed by the Liberal Democrats with 20 per cent. Ten per cent of respondents would vote for other parties.

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.

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. 10, Jack Straw, Britain’s justice secretary, appeared to question Brown’s ability to lead during a television interview, saying, "Tony [Blair] was a much more instinctive decisions-maker."

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

If the general election was tomorrow, which party would you vote for?

Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,508 British adults, conducted from Jun. 6 to Jun. 8, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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