British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's handling of the economic downturn provided another boost to his Labour Party's fortunes today with an opinion poll putting him only six points behind the opposition Conservatives.
The Populus poll for the London Timesput Labour at 35 per cent, up 5 points from the previous month, while David Cameron's Conservatives were down 4 points at 41 per cent and the Liberal Democrats up one point at 16 per cent.
It also showed that 52 per cent of those polled felt Brown was best equipped to deal with an economy heading towards recession compared with 32 per cent for Cameron.
However, 42 per cent of respondents felt Mr Cameron was still the best man to lead Britain after the next general election - which must be called by 2010 - with Mr Brown on 35 per cent.
The poll boost follows a surprising victory for Labour a by-election in Glenrothes in Scotland last week and comes amid increasing speculation that Mr Brown and finance minister Alistair Darling are preparing a tax cut and spending package to stimulate the economy.
Only two months ago, Mr Brown's leadership was being openly questioned by members of his own party as Labour lost a string of by-elections and polls showed Cameron heading for a landslide general election victory.
But his handling of the global financial crisis has lifted his standing within his party, and with voters, despite economists' warnings that Britain is on the brink of recession.
Mr Cameron today will present his own package of measures which are expected to focus on helping small business retain employees by diverting cash from the benefits system.
"As you go into recession, you have got a choice: either you stand back, do nothing, let unemployment rise and let that unemployment benefit be spent, or in advance use that money to get companies to take on workers," he told BBC television.
Reuters