Labour trail Tories by stunning 26 points in new poll

A devastating poll in Friday's Sun newspaper has put Labour on its lowest share of the vote since the 1930s. Just when Gordon Brown thought it could not get any worse, the survey puts the Tories on a massive 49 per cent with Labour trailing at just 23 per cent - a Tory lead of 26 per cent.

There is one crumb of comfort for Brown: Labour would be doing even worse if Brown was replaced by another leader, according to the YouGov poll. Ed Balls, David Miliband, Jack Straw, Harriet Harman, Andy Burnham, Alan Johnson and James Purnell all registered a minus net reading.

However, the message for Brown from the poll is that last Thursday's local election results - although limited to only 4,000 seats - do accurately reflect the national mood. On the present showing, Labour is heading for a humiliating defeat in the general election and David Cameron a landslide victory.

A former Cabinet minister told the Mole: "Out in the real world, this feels about right. This is what I have been picking up on the doorsteps. And the real problem is, Gordon is in denial.

"He is in denial over the damage he has caused with the abolition of the 10p tax rate for the lowest paid - just as he was in denial over the small rise in pensions a couple of years ago that caused a national outcry. There is a mad logic to what he is doing. I am sure he sees things that way. But it is damaging us, perhaps irretrievably."

Charles Clarke this week called on Brown to carry out a mini-budget to bring some instant relief to the 5.3 million losers over the tax shake-up. This weekend, another former minister is likely to fire off a salvo at Brown. The PM has got all the advice he needs. His friends say that what he needs to do now is listen to it.

THE MOLE: YOUGOV POLL

FIRST POSTED MAY 8, 2008