Tony Blair's popularity slumps

LONDON, England -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government have been given a shock by opinion polls, one of which finds the Labour Party is now behind the opposition Conservative Party for the first time in eight years.

As a week ended of crippling blockades around fuel depots and refineries which ran the country's fuel supplies virtually dry, public opinion was unforgiving.

An NOP poll in for Sunday Times showed Labour neck and neck with Conservatives at 37 percent each, while a MORI poll for the News of the World tabloid put Blair's party behind the Tories -- at 36 percent versus 38 -- for the first time in eight years.

A key MORI opinion poll in August gave Labour 51 percent, with the opposition Tories way behind on 29 percent. If the country had voted in a general election then, Blair would have won an even larger majority than he did in 1997.

The reason for the swing against Labour appeared clear cut. A week of protests over high fuel taxes wrongfooted the government and its refusal to give any ground, accompanied by a mantra that it would not cave in to blackmail, prompted cries of arrogance.

The crisis escalated far faster than the government expected with petrol supplies running dry, schools forced to close, health services on red alert and supermarkets rationing food.

Blair was embarrassed by a leaked memo in July which showed him fretting at being out of touch with the people.

In the new NOP poll, 73 percent of respondents branded him "out of touch and arrogant" while 79 percent of those in the MORI poll also criticised his handling of the crisis.

Michael Portillo, the Tories' shadow finance minister, said the government had not only refused to listen to the protesters, who had around 80 percent of the British public behind them, but showed no sign of listening now either.

"The government has been immensely unpopular, it has been very insensitive, it has been arrogant, it hasn't been listening to people, and indeed it is very clear from the comments today ... that they're not listening to people now.

"They have learned nothing from this crisis," Portillo told Sky television.

An ICM poll published in the Daily Mail on Saturday found that 52 percent believed the government had handled the protest -- the deepest crisis Blair has had to face in his three-year premiership -- "very badly."

Some solace for Blair may come from across the English Channel where his French counterpart Lionel Jospin also saw his poll ratings tumble.

The French Prime Minister faced similarly devastating fuel protests by fishermen and farmers. Unlike Blair, he conceded some ground and granted selective fuel tax cuts.

But public opinion did not thank him. A poll to be published in Sunday's Journal du Dimanche showed that only 35 percent of people were happy with Jospin as prime minister compared with 53 percent in August.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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