Labour slump to rock bottom in the polls - 26 per cent behind the Tories and at their lowest rating since records began in the 1930s

12 April 2012

Gordon Brown came under pressure to bow to a list of trade union demands today as his poll ratings crashed to a historic new low.

In the latest bodyblow to the Prime Minister, a devastating survey claimed that Labour has slumped to a 23 per cent share - its worst since records began in the Thirties.

At the same time, according to YouGov in the Sun, David Cameron has led the Conservatives to 49 per cent, a lead of 26 points, which matches the dizzying levels that Tony Blair gloried in before his 1997 election landslide.

The shock findings left many Labour MPs fearing that the party's position is now irrecoverable.

One said privately: "I cannot see how it can be turned around in the next two years unless something unexpected happens. It may be a mistake to delay the election to the last possible

The findings came as Labour turmoil over Scottish independence deepened and a Cabinet minister warned Mr Brown the party was losing touch with voters.

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Problems: Gordon Brown appeared on This Morning on the same day a poll revealed Labour are at an all time low

Universities Secretary John Denham, the only Cabinet member with a southern seat and tipped by some as a future leader, said: "Voters won't forgive us for apparently not understanding what is happening in their lives."

Mr Denham used a keynote lecture to say that in the wake of last week's disastrous local and mayoral election results, Labour must win back support in London and the South or be doomed to political failure.

He claimed Labour was guilty of sending out mixed messages to "different people at the cost of a vision of a society that unites voters from different backgrounds".

"It has left too many confused about what we stand for," he added. He called for a new focus on touchstone issues that concern voters in the South – housing, migration, tax and the cost of social care.

Mr Denham said the Government needed to demonstrate it was the "guardian of the taxpayers' pound".

"That every pound works as hard for the taxpayer who earned it as it can," he added. Mr Denham claimed Labour had ignored key sections of society for too long.

"Not everyone who works hard feels that they have benefited as they might have done. And these people don't think they have heard too much about their lives in the past ten years," he said.

"It was pretty clear last Thursday that too many felt our description of their lives was not what they experience."

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Deepening problem: Brown faces party rebellion over Scottish independence

To add to his woes yesterday, the Prime Minister was accused of putting the 301-year-old union between England and Scotland at risk by "dithering" over the independence referendum row engulfing his party.

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander openly defied Mr Brown by demanding an early poll on the break-up of the UK.

She challenged Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, to bring forward a referendum Bill next week.

The Prime Minister – who is understood to have failed to convince Miss Alexander to change her line – is now under increasing pressure to have her ousted. As Labour embarrassment increased over the rift between the two, senior party sources said Miss Alexander's position now looked untenable.

Mr Brown has always been against calling for an early referendum on Scottish independence in an attempt to outfox the SNP administration which has pledged to hold a poll in 2010.

Last night Tory leader David Cameron wrote to Mr Brown urging him to respond to the "open challenge to your authority". And David Mundell, the Tory spokesman on Scotland, said: "Gordon Brown's persistent dithering is putting the Union at risk.

"Instead of engaging in an internal party struggle the Prime Minister should be at the vanguard of the union's defence."

Last night's poll for The Sun by YouGov – the only pollster to correctly forecast the result of last week's London mayoral contest – put Labour at its lowest ebb since polling began in the 1930s.

The only time the Conservatives have recorded a bigger lead was in 1968. But it suggests the party would be in even greater trouble if it ditched Mr Brown.

Potential successors Ed Balls, David Miliband, Jack Straw, Harriet Harman, Andy Burnham, Alan Johnson and James Purnell – or even Tony Blair – would all make things worse in the eyes of voters.

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane caused controversy last night by claiming the Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was a "nationalist xenophobic populist" like the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno.

Mr Alemanno is a former member of the far-Right MSI, which included elements of Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party. He was arrested several times in his youth for taking part in far-Right demonstrations.

Tory sources rejected Mr MacShane's remarks as "absurd and offensive".

My goal for Fraser, by Brown the proud parent

Gordon Brown offered the deepest insight yet into his private life yesterday as he spoke of how he hopes his son can become a football or rugby player despite suffering from cystic fibrosis.

The notoriously private Premier surprised observers by agreeing to talk in an ITV interview about his "struggle" to have children with his wife, Sarah.

His remarks came after catastrophic local election results last week, which many blamed on his inability to connect with voters. This Morning presenter Fern Britton billed yesterday's interview as an "opportunity" for Mr Brown to "be a human being".

She asked about the health of his younger son, Fraser, who has the life-threatening disease cystic fibrosis, adding: "Or is that too personal a question?"

Mr Brown replied: "He's doing well. You know, for that condition you have got to do more sport. I want him to be a rugby player or a football player."

He said Fraser, who will be two in July, and his other son John, four, helped him keep politics in perspective.

"The most important thing is being a good father. It has been such a struggle to have two young healthy children, so it is really important to me."

Sources close to Mr Brown insisted This Morning had put him in an impossible position by breaking an agreement not to ask about his children.

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