Brown ‘bounce’ as Labour wins ground

LONDON – Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour party has won back ground from the main opposition Conservatives, thanks to his handling of the economic crisis, a poll showed yesterday.

Brown has cut Conservative leader David Cameron’s advantage to just nine percentage points, reducing it to single digits for the first time since March, a ComRes poll in the Independent on Sunday newspaper found. The paper said that 40 per cent of those questioned would vote Conservative.That marked an increase of one percentage point from the previous poll in September.However, 31 per cent said they would vote Labour – which was four percentage points higher.The poll suggested that Britons believed that Brown was the best person to lead the country through financial markets chaos, soaring inflation and unemployment, and a looming recession, the paper added.Only 25 per cent of those quizzed said that they believed Cameron would handle the global financial crisis better than Brown.But just 37 per cent agreed that Brown’s handling of the banking crisis gave him a good chance of winning the next election.A majority of 54 percent disagreed.The ComRes phone poll of 1 007 adults was carried out last Wednesday and Thursday.The Conservatives have led Labour in the polls for weeks, with a general election due to take place by 2010.Meanwhile, a separate poll published yesterday showed that Brown had failed to improve his prospects.Nampa-ReutersThe paper said that 40 per cent of those questioned would vote Conservative.That marked an increase of one percentage point from the previous poll in September.However, 31 per cent said they would vote Labour – which was four percentage points higher.The poll suggested that Britons believed that Brown was the best person to lead the country through financial markets chaos, soaring inflation and unemployment, and a looming recession, the paper added.Only 25 per cent of those quizzed said that they believed Cameron would handle the global financial crisis better than Brown.But just 37 per cent agreed that Brown’s handling of the banking crisis gave him a good chance of winning the next election.A majority of 54 percent disagreed.The ComRes phone poll of 1 007 adults was carried out last Wednesday and Thursday.The Conservatives have led Labour in the polls for weeks, with a general election due to take place by 2010.Meanwhile, a separate poll published yesterday showed that Brown had failed to improve his prospects.Nampa-Reuters