Talk about splitting the nation....Blair is even more industrious than bush. Check out who is the most popular of the three potential leaders in Britain now....
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Prime minister is no longer trusted
By Roger Blitz, UK Affairs Editor
Published: June 30 2003 22:00 | Last Updated: June 30 2003 22:00
The public no longer trusts Tony Blair and is pessimistic about the prospect of improvement in
public services, an FT/MORI poll reveals on Tuesday.
Mr Blair, who frequently urged the nation to have faith in him over the Iraq crisis, is not trusted by
almost two-thirds of the public. Nearly two-thirds also agreed that Mr Blair "is losing his grip", a
view felt in particular by elderly people. Even 43 per cent of Labour supporters shared the same
opinion.
Asked if government policies would improve the economy in
the long term, 51 per cent said they would not, with 36 per
cent saying they would.
To add to Mr Blair's woes, Labour 's second-term agenda of
improving public services is not convincing the public. Most
people expect things to get worse over the next few years in five chief public services:
education, health, transport, policing and the environment.
With public transport, 39 per cent expect it to decline and 23 per cent predict it will improve,
giving a "net-improvement balance" of -16 percentage points. The net balance for the NHS is -10.
Education has fallen from a net balance of +12 to -1 since March and policing has fallen by 10
percentage points. Only 31 per cent of those polled are satisfied with the prime minister with 61
per cent dissatisfied, a minus score matching his worst rating, at the height of the Iraq crisis.
The prime minister has one crumb of comfort: Iain Duncan
Smith's satisfaction rating is even worse at 21 per cent, with 49 per cent of people dissatisfied.
Charles Kennedy, of the Lib Dems with 37 per cent, has the best
approval ratings for a party leader.
Labour is now thought more divided over the euro than the Tories, with 83 per cent of people
believing the issue of euro membership is dividing the government, and 60 per cent believing the
same of the opposition.
However, only 62 per cent could name the Tory party leader with his recognition among women
54 per cent and among 16 to 34-year-olds, 50 per cent. Only 72 per cent of Tory supporters
could name him.
MORI interviewed 1,002 adults aged 16 and over across the country from June 20 to 22. Data
are weighted to match the profile of the population. |
