Poll gloom for Blair

Tony Blair is losing the trust of the British people after five years as Prime Minister, a devastating opinion poll showed today.

More than half of the public believe the Government has done "badly" on the key issues of crime and public transport. Only one in six people think life has got better since Labour came to power.

The findings point to a Labour disaster in this week's council elections, with the party struggling to defend seats won in 1998 when Mr Blair was still enjoying a honeymoon with voters.

The level of anger over crime backs up Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith's decision to make law and order his top issue in the local election campaign.

The survey by ICM was carried out to mark the fifth anniversary of Mr Blair's first election victory on 1 May, 1997.

Among key findings, 43 per cent said they now trusted Mr Blair less than five years ago. Six per cent said their trust in him had grown; 47 per cent said it had remained the same. A total of 17 per cent said the Prime Minister and his Cabinet had "done well" while 33 per cent said they had made a "reasonable start".

More than half of those interviewed said Labour were either "only interested in looking after themselves", "helped the better off but not ordinary people" or were simply "a disaster".

More than half (52 per cent) of younger voters aged between 18 and 34 said the government handled crime badly. The figure rose to 74 per cent among voters over 55. On public transport, levels of dissatisfaction were 52 per cent among the younger group and 62 per cent with older voters.

Asked whether life had improved in Britain over the past five years, 16 per cent said things were better, 40 per cent said they were worse, 40 per cent said they had stayed the same. Mr Blair's globetrotting is proving a turn-off for voters, with 68 per cent saying he travels abroad too much.

However, the public appear to have little faith in any other leading politician to do a better job in Downing Street. Asked who would make the best Prime Minister, around a quarter of voters named Tony Blair, well ahead of Gordon Brown in second place. Mr Duncan Smith and Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy lagged further behind.

ICM interviewed a representative sample of 994 people in face-to-face interviews last week in a poll for GMTV and the Daily Mirror.

Labour is struggling to keep control of key councils in this week's elections, including Croydon, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Birmingham. Tories report strong dissatisfaction with the Government , particularly over crime.

However, some Labour activists say that this month's tax-raising Budget with its extra cash for the NHS is beginning to win back core Labour voters who had lost faith in the Government's ability to improve public services.

Labour's poll lead over the Tories has shrunk to seven points, the narrowest margin since the election. But most lost Labour votes appear to have gone to the Lib Dems, who recorded one of their strongest showings in years.

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Comment: You're in for a long wait, Gordon