4 out of 10 want Blair to go

Four out of 10 Labour Party members want Tony Blair to stand down before the next election - while a huge majority are flatly opposed to his big idea of introducing more charges for public services.

And a third say they would vote for Gordon Brown if the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were pitched against each other in a leadership contest.

The findings from a survey of grassroots members today fuelled claims that Mr Blair is becoming out of touch with the views of many of his troops on the ground after a decade as Labour leader.

The ICM poll in The Guardian found that although most members support the Prime Minister on key battlegrounds such as the economy, health and education, his support has been badly undermined on other issues.

At least a third of party members remain implacably opposed to the war with Iraq while, more significantly, a majority appear to be unhappy with Downing Street's key blueprint to reform public services by making the better-off pay fees and charges.

Asked when Mr Blair should retire from Downing Street, some 16 per cent said immediately and another 23 per cent said he should go before the next general election.

A fifth, however, said he should stay on until mid-way through the next parliament and 35 per cent wanted Mr Blair to stay on for at least another five years in office, to fight a fourth election as Labour leader.

Although supportive overall, such a high level of opposition to Mr Blair's continued rule will alarm Labour managers, who have been playing down reports that the Prime Minister is considering early retirement.

Most surprisingly, 30 per cent said that if Mr Blair and Mr Brown stood against each other they would back the Chancellor to take over.

Although 55 per cent of members would vote for Mr Blair to continue, such a low vote for an incumbent premier with two election landslides under his belt implies that his support has fallen.

The results come after Mr Blair made clear in a weekend newspaper interview that he intended to lead Labour into the next general election.

Significantly, the poll showed discontent over controversial issues with which Mr Blair has been personally associated.

Half of Labour Party members said anger over his backing for the US-led war on Iraq was a serious danger to the party at the general election, expected next year. Some 31 per cent dismissedthe Hutton report as a "whitewash" after it cleared No10 of misconduct in the David Kelly affair, compared with 51 per cent who felt it was fair.

A massive 81 per cent were in favour of identity cards, championed by Mr Blair in his last party conference speech, while a slim majority - 52 to 41 per cent - opposed joining the single currency.

The poll suggested Mr Blair was walking into a minefield by arguing for wider use of charges to fund public service improvements, such as university top-up fees. Only five per cent of party members backed such public service charges, while 66 per cent said income tax should be raised for people earning over £100,000 instead to raise extra money.

Some 13 per cent backed raising the basic rate of tax.

Labour is also losing support among voters as a whole, claimed the survey.

Backing was down to 36 per cent from 39 per cent in January while the Conservatives were unchanged on 34 per cent.