More than half of voters think Gordon Brown staying on as prime minister is harming Britain, a poll suggested today.
The YouGov poll for The Sunday Timesfound 51 per cent of people agreed with the statement that "Gordon Brown's continuing presence as prime minister is damaging the country". Some 27 per cent disagreed.
In other gloomy results for the Labour leader, 74 per cent said Mr Brown was doing badly as prime minister and 60 per cent said he should step down now or before the next general election.
Only 30 per cent thought Mr Brown should lead Labour into the election.
More than 1,900 people were questioned by YouGov on Thursday and Friday.
The poll gave the Tories a 40 per cent share of the vote in a general election, maintaining a 16-point lead over Labour, which was down at 24 per cent. The Liberal Democrats were on 18 per cent.
But both main parties appear to have lost support over the past month — in May their ratings were 43 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
There was strong support for an early election.
Before the expenses scandal, YouGov polls found little desire for an early vote but 49 per cent thought there should be an immediate ballot.
A total of 24 per cent said the election should be in the autumn, while only 20 per cent thought the Government should hang on until next year.
The findings were not all good news for Tory leader David Cameron.
Asked whether the Conservatives had the right team to tackle Britain’s problems effectively, half said they did not, while 33 per cent said they did.
And only 36 per cent thought Cameron had the right policies to deal with the country’s difficulties.
PA