Going Brown

NotW poll puts Cameron way ahead of PM

Exclusive by Ian Kirby

An exclusive News of the World MSL Poll revealed that the Northern Rock fiasco and the current credit crunch have DESTROYED Brown's 10-year reputation as a financial mastermind.

And it's younger voters who are putting the boot in, with Cameron having a staggering 17-POINT LEAD among 25 to 34-year-olds.

Asked who makes the best political leader, 52 PER CENT of the age group plumped for Cameron, with only 35 per cent backing Brown.

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Among 18 to 24-year-olds it's a similar story, with Cameron having a 12-POINT lead.

Cameron has a EIGHT-POINT LEAD among all voters—and for the first time in a decade the Conservatives are now winning the war of ideas over Labour.

When asked who has the best policies and ideas for Britain, the Tories lead by 10 POINTS, again rising to 17 POINTS among 25 to 34-year-olds, showing Cameron's policy of courting younger voters is clearly paying off.

Brown's reputation for handling the economy is now in tatters. Just two months ago Labour had a 12 point lead over the Tories on managing the economy, But now the parties are completely LEVEL at 38 per cent each. And among young people aged 18 to 24 Labour are a staggering 16 POINTS behind.

The Prime Minister said on Friday the public would support him because they had seen he could handle a crisis—but our poll shows he's got it WRONG. A clear majority now believe Brown is BAD at handling a crisis (46 per cent versus 44 per cent).

When thousands of customers were queuing up outside Northern Rock offices last month, most people said they trusted Labour to manage the problem. But the revelation last week that £25BILLION of public money had been used to shore up the bank has changed that view.

Most people polled (54 per cent) now think that Gordon Brown has handled the crisis badly.

A slim majority (49 per cent to 47 per cent) also think Chancellor Alistair Darling should quit over the lost HM Customs and Revenue child benefit computer discs. And that was BEFORE it was revealed that another six discs containing confidential tax information have gone missing.

Bleak

All in all it's bad news for Brown—and it's also clear that the current bleak economic forecasts mean things are unlikely to get any better soon.

In Uganda for the Commonwealth summit, the PM admitted: "What's increasingly clear is that each country over these next few weeks and months has got to steer a course of stability in what are uncertain world conditions."

And he warned: "There's absolutely no doubt now that the American economy will slow, which will have an effect on the European economy."

MSL interviewed 547 adults aged 18+ by telephone on November 22-24. The data has been weighted to be representative of the population of Great Britain.