An opinion poll carried out for the Mail on Sunday gave Labour the worst result since 1943.  Carried out on Thursday and Friday it gave Labour 23 % while the Conservatives got 45%. That is enough for a landslide victory if repeated at an election. This paints a bleak picture for Gordon Brown, who faces a parliamentary election due by mid-May 2010. That is not a long time for Labour to turn things around, and with one scandal following the next, it seems impossible at this point in time.

That was not the only piece of bad news for the prime minister. For the first time, a majority – 52% – believe Brown should stand down. The government has been weakened by a deluge of negative headlines over the last month. The row over MPs expenses has been particularly damaging as voters are tightening their belts. The Damien McBride affair did nothing good, and this week Labour suffered an embarrassing defeat on the right of Gurkha soldiers to settle in Britain.

Labour faces local and European elections on June 4th, and a bad performance is likely to fuel speculations about whether Brown should lead the party in the next general election. He has taken several beatings, that is for sure, and with the lack of charisma and good looks, mixed with a difficult financial time, I don’t think he stands a chance.