British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party has fallen behind the Conservatives, according to a newspaper poll published today.
The YouGov survey for the right-wing
Daily Telegraphshowed the Tories on 38 per cent, up four points on last month and two ahead of Labour.
Mr Blair has seen his party's once towering lead slip away in the face of protests against war in Iraq and rebellion in his party over plans to charge students tuition fees.
Commentators say the Conservatives have found their feet under new leader Mr Michael Howard, who replaced the unpopular Mr Iain Duncan Smith on November 6th.
The right-wing Tories have trailed Labour for much of Mr Blair's six years in office, although they edged ahead in the same poll in June.
But the YouGov survey of 1,952 voters found Mr Blair ahead of Mr Howard in the leadership stakes. Asked who would make the best leader, 31 percent said Blair, against 27 percent for Howard.
The poll will come as a further blow to Blair, who on Wednesday unveiled the government's agenda for the last full legislative year before an expected 2005 general election.
Mr Blair will on Friday launch the "Big Conversation", a bid to gauge what ordinary voters think are Labour's priorities.