Brown loses more ground in poll

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown slipped further behind his opposition Conservatives in an opinion poll published yesterday that contradicted the findings of a rival survey published earlier this week.

The ICM poll in the Guardian newspaper suggested voters have doubts about Brown's tax cutting and borrowing plans to ease the pain of the economic downturn.

Pulling further ahead

It said the Conservatives, led by David Cameron, had extended their lead over Brown's Labour government to 15 points, enough to ensure a substantial parliamentary majority if repeated at an election - not due till 2010.

Some 45 per cent of those surveyed backed the Conservatives, up three points and matching a peak of support achieved twice over the summer in ICM polls, compared to just 30 per cent for Labour.

The Liberal Democrats had the backing of 18 per cent of respondents.

The findings were in sharp contrast with a YouGov poll published on Wednesday that said Brown had actually narrowed the Tory lead to just four points, his best performance in many months.

Both surveys were conducted after the government announced plans for a £20 billion (Dh113 billion) stimulus package to support the flagging economy that include a temporary cut in Value Added Tax to 15 per cent and a new 45 per cent tax band for higher earners.

Methodology

The opposing findings of the polls may be due to their differing methodologies. ICM, which conducted its latest poll on November 25 and 26, contacts voters by telephone. YouGov uses email to reach a panel of respondents.

The ICM poll questioned 1,026 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.