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

The governing Labour party is second with 34 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 21 per cent. Eight per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for Labour fell by two points, while backing for the Lib-Dems increased by the same margin.

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. The Liberal Democrats will settle on a new leader by early March. The ballot was called last month after Charles Kennedy admitted to a drinking problem. Foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell, party president Simon Hughes, and economics spokesman Chris Huhne are running.

Yesterday, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee placed the detention facility for terrorism suspects at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay as one of its main human rights concerns. Blair refused comment on the topic, declaring, "I think I have said really all I want to say on Guantanamo. I've said it's an anomaly, I've said it should end sooner rather than later. I don't think I've got anything more to say on it."

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 there were to be a general election tomorrow, which party do you think you would vote for?

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