Only Blair can revive Labour Party, finds poll

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the only senior Labour figure who could revive the partys prospects at the general election, according to a ComRes poll.

London, Sep 6 : Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the only senior Labour figure who could revive the party's prospects at the general election, according to a ComRes poll.

The poll found that Blair would almost halve the Conservative party's poll lead from 19 to 10 points; a disappointment to those Labour MPs who thought the former Prime Minister was a liability, The Independent reported.

Under Blair, Labour would win 31 per cent, reducing the projected Tory majority to just 20 seats.

Blair, who is more popular now than when he left Downing Street last summer, cannot return as leader because he is no longer an MP, but according to ComRes, he would enjoy much more support among both men and women than any other Labour figure.

But Gordon Brown will draw comfort that none of those touted as possible successors, including Foreign Secretary David Miliband would be any more popular than him.

Under David Miliband or Jack Straw, Labour's ratings would be exactly the same as under Brown, while the party would perform worse if Alan Johnson, Harriet Harman or Ed Balls took over.

Although the survey shows Brown is unpopular among Labour supporters, it suggests the Labour brand is now tarnished in the eyes of many voters - another sign that changing its leader might have little impact.

Some 49 per cent of the public say they do not like Brown or the Labour Party. Only 16 per cent say they like him and the party. Brown is slightly less popular than his party: 20 per cent of people say they like Labour but not him, while 8 per cent like him but not the party.

Remarkably, 34 per cent of people who intend to vote Labour say they like the party but not Mr Brown. Only 3 per cent of them like him and not Labour, and just 58 per cent of Labour supporters like both the party and its current leader.

ANI