By KUNA
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Browns leadership rating has fallen to its lowest level yet, with a third of voters regarding him as worse than former UK Premier Tony Blair, a poll published here Tuesday showed.
The Prime Minister has also presided over a sharp fall in confidence in the economy as he enters a crucial three weeks of campaigning for the London Mayor and local elections to be held at the beginning of May, according to the survey by pollsters “Populus” published in The Times newspaper.
In the poll, the main opposition Conservatives have risen two points since a month ago to 39 percent and Labour has slipped one point to 33 percent.
The smaller opposition Liberal Democrats are down two points at 17 percent.
The poll also found that 31 percent of voters now regard Brown as worse than Blair.
Support for Labour is now following a similar path to that of the doomed Conservative Government at the same point in the mid-1990s, The Times said.
The Conservatives have been in the lead for all but three months of the past two years.
After Browns brief honeymoon last summer, voters have become much more critical.
Whereas last September 21 percent believed that he had performed better than expected, now just five percent do.
Over the same period the number saying that he has done worse than expected has risen from six to 36 percent.
A mere three percent think that Brown had made a real difference to Britain, 33 percent only a little difference, and 62 percent no difference at all.
The proportion regarding Labour as competent and capable has fallen from 56 to 37 percent since last September and the Conservative rating has risen from 39 to 45 percent, according to the survey.