Poll shows leader swap would not save Labour
Swapping Gordon Brown for a new leader would not help the Labour Party win the next general election, an opinion poll showed on Monday.
Brown says judge me on my recordThe poll, by ICM in Tuesday's Guardian, coincides with Brown's preparations for relaunching his government after a summer break, amid feverish speculation that Labour MPs are plotting to try to replace him.
Rumours of a potential leadership challenge centre on Foreign Secretary David Miliband but the poll found that Labour would not fare any better under him than under Brown.
The next general election is due by mid-2010.
The poll gave the Conservative Party a 15-point lead over Labour. David Cameron's Conservatives scored 44 points, up one from last month, and Labour 29, also up one.
Asked whether Cameron or Brown would make the best prime minister, 42 percent said Cameron versus 21 percent for Brown. Twenty-three percent said neither.
Asked to choose between Cameron and Miliband for prime minister, 40 percent said Cameron and 19 percent Miliband - the same 21 percentage point margin. Eighteen percent said neither.
The results showed that voters of every age, social class and part of Britain, except Scotland, preferred Cameron to Brown.
Brown's poll ratings and those of the government have been hit by the credit crunch, rising prices, fears of a housing market crash and a series of administrative blunders.
Brown is also suffering from public disillusionment after more than a decade of Labour government.
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