Britain’s Brown Enjoys Rise in Popularity, Poll Shows
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London — Gordon Brown’s popularity among British voters rose, cutting in half a lead enjoyed by the Conservative opposition, after the prime minister addressed the Labour Party’s conference this week, a poll showed.
Labour gained 7 percentage points from last week to 31%, the biggest post-conference boost in 20 years, according to YouGov Plc. The Conservatives’ support fell 3 points to 41%. The margin of error was 2 points.
Mr. Brown had been facing pressure from more than a dozen of his own lawmakers to resign before the gathering in Manchester, northern England. He rallied his colleagues by calling for a crackdown on excesses in the banking industry.
“Does this mean the corner has turned and Labour are pulling things back? It could do — nothing’s impossible — but right now it’s probably more likely to be a passing conference boost,” a polling analyst for YouGov, Anthony Wells, said.
The survey of 1,017 adults was taken September 23 and September 24 before word spread that the Transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, would quit her post in Brown’s Cabinet.
