Support for Britain's Liberal Democrat party has slumped to its lowest level in two years, after a tumultuous month in which the party has been vilified for breaking its promise to oppose higher university fees.
Support for their leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has also deteriorated, the latest Reuters/Ipsos MORI political monitor showed today.
Meanwhile, support for Britain's opposition Labour party remains at its highest level for three years, and pollster Ipsos MORI said Labour had gained from the Lib Dem's falling support.
The Lib Dems pledged before Britain's May election to oppose moves to raise university tuition fees, but then reversed their stance after joining the Conservative party in a coalition government when neither party won an outright majority in the polls.
If there was an election tomorrow, 38 per cent of people say they would vote for the Conservatives, 39 per cent for Labour and only 11 per cent for the Lib Dems, down from the roughly 24 per cent who voted for them in May, Ipsos MORI said.
The government has since announced a raft of spending cuts aimed at tackling Britain's record budget deficit, including plans to almost triple tuition fees to as much as £9,000 a year in a move to shift the burden of education costs from the state to students.
Students feel particularly aggrieved by the Lib Dems' policy reversal. Demonstrations by students and others in recent weeks have seen running battles with police, the Conservative party headquarters and the Treasury broken into and a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla attacked.
Much of the students' anger was directed at the Lib Dems and Mr Clegg, an expensively educated politician who has gone from enjoying widespread support before the election to having his effigy burned in protests and excrement shoved through his door.
He and his party are in danger of suffering lasting damage which may translate into election losses and even spoil the party's appetite for its role in the coalition government.
Prime minister David Cameron, head of the Conservative Party, has the highest approval rating at 48 per cent.
Britons continue to have a negative outlook on the economy, and only 29 per cent think it will improve in the next year. The public was divided on whether Britain should loan money to other countries in financial difficulty, as it did with Ireland.
Reuters