Blair: Unpopular

London, May 10: Tony Blair, who broke all records for public approval when he entered No 10 nine years ago, is now the most unpopular Labour Prime Minister of modern times, a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph shows today.

Only 26 per cent of voters are satisfied with Blair’s performance, lower than Harold Wilson’s 27 per cent rating in May 1968 after devaluation of the pound.

The spectacular collapse in Blair’s personal rating was reinforced by a further drop in support for Labour. After last Thursday’s drubbing in the English local elections, Labour is now six points behind a resurgent Conservative Party led by David Cameron.

YouGov’s survey puts the Conservatives on 37 per cent, Labour 31 and the Liberal Democrats 17.

It is the second opinion poll in 24 hours to show a collapse in Labour support after the turmoil of recent weeks, including the “loans for peerages” scandal, the foreign prisoners fiasco, John Prescott’s affair, and feuding over when Blair will hand over to Gordon Brown.

The sharp drop in Blair’s personal standing is a further blow after what is generally acknowledged to have been his worst two weeks in power.

Labour MPs who attended a tense meeting of the parliamentary party at Westminster on Monday night claimed that the “countdown” to the end of the Blair’s era had begun and he would be gone by May next year or a few months after.

Blair is Labour’s most successful leader, having won three consecutive general elections to give the party the prospect of at least 12 years of uninterrupted power.