Skipper

The Guardian's latest poll is pretty bad news for all three major parties. On the face of it Labour might disagree- two points up they now lead the Tories by the same margin. But as the paper's editorial points out Ed Miliband's personal ratings are deeply depressing for him and his party:

Only 28% of all voters, and just 45% of Labour supporters, think Miliband is doing a good job. His net negative is -21, down eight points since March. His rating is one point worse than Clegg's and 16 points worse than Cameron's. The Labour leader seems notably unpopular among older voters and men. His popularity ratings now resemble those of Iain Duncan Smith when he was leader of the opposition, and Miliband's rating is notably worse than those of William Hague or Michael Howard as opposition leaders.

Moreover, while 40% support the Coalition's economic policies are best, only 28% think the same of Labour's. This poll defines the huge mountain Miliband has to climb to raise himself from the miserable comparisons being made with the younger Hague's period as Leader of the Opposition not to mention that of IDS.

But that does not mean the Coalition can hug itself with glee at the results. 42% say Cameron is doing a 'good' job but now 47% say he is not, plunging him into 'negative' territory for the first time. His close friend George Osborne fares even worse; his -2 rating for m arch has shot up- sorry I mean down- to-12. As for poor Nick Clegg?

The deputy prime minister has fallen less fast, but only because he was already at rock bottom. His score is -20%, down two on March, with 54% saying he is doing a bad job, including 55% of people who voted Lib Dem in the general election.

While the government might breathe a sigh of relief that it bests Labour on the economy, 53% say they are 'not confident' about their financial situation, only 46% say they are, with Tory voters twice as confident as Labour ones. Labour, however, can take comfort in their leads of 7% and 5% respectively on their 'banker' issue of health and education.