Skipper

My suggestion yesterday that Brown had six months to try to remove the image of incompetence which has adhered to him over recent months, has to be updated in the light of today's poll in the Telegraph. We find that now that only 14% rate Gordon's performance as PM as either 'good' or 'very good'; 51% rate his performance as 'poor'. How this must mortify this proud high achieving Scot who so hates to be criticised.

Tony King observes that whilst so many thought his Chancellorship was just brilliant, the magic has fled away now that he is PM. And it is the economy where future worries lie. A majority now favour the Conservatives as the party 'more likely to run Britain's economy well' and 60% are to some degree 'worried' about an economic recession. Poll figures also show that such worries are affecting consumer confidence regarding future spending, meaning that a recession is even more likely to come about.

On the police pay dispute King has this to say:

Ministers may wish to attribute the gathering economic gloom to the worldwide credit crunch but the Prime Minister and his Home Secretary cannot escape responsibility for what appears to have been a substantial political blunder: the decision to phase in over several months the English and Welsh police officer's pay award. In order to save money, the Government seems to have decided to put at risk any reputation it had for fair dealing.Given the high value most Britons place on fairness, that decision would appear to have been politically reckless.

Maybe the comment made by fellow blogger Paul Linford on my yesterday's post is closer to the truth: that Gordon has closer to six weeks than six months to turn things around and change the way his premiership is being perceived. If not then Labour has to prepare itself for a 'meltdown' of an election which might see it lose 100 seats.