Labour hit by third bad poll

A third successive opinion poll has suggested that the fuel crisis has seriously damaged Labour's support.

The ICM poll in The Guardian puts the Conservatives on 38% (up 4% compared to the same poll last month), Labour on 34% (down 10%), the Liberal Democrats on 22% (up 5%) and other parties on 7% (up 2%).

Two polls on Sunday gave a similar message - one put the two main parties neck and neck, the other gave the Tories their first poll lead since 1992.

The ICM poll was based on telephone research carried out over the weekend - after the worst of the fuel crisis was over but clearly affected by it.

ICM found that people clearly blamed the government for the recent fuel price rises rather than anyone else. Some 63% put the responsibility on the government as opposed to 12% pinning it on the petrol companies and 17% on Opec.

Mr Blair will also be worried by the fall in his personal ratings.

Only 29% of voters questioned by ICM still thought he was doing a good job, a drop from 46% in July.

However, the number of people who thought he was doing a bad job rose from 44% to 63% in the same period.

The number of 'Don't knows' fell from 10% to 6%.

Poll analysis

The head of BBC political research, David Cowling, looks at the poll's deeper findings analyses what it all means:

The ICM/Guardian poll puts the finishing touches to a miserable few days for Labour.

This survey mirrors the main findings of earlier polls:

59% thought Mr Blair was wrong not to make concessions to the fuel protesters,

Mr Blair's personal ratings plummeted from +2% to -34% and only 29% of respondents thought he was doing a good job

It also confirmed that the government had comprehensively failed to win any of the arguments surrounding the fuel crisis. Fully 76% of respondents said that fuel prices should be cut because they need their car.

Interestingly, the poll discovered that 29% of motorists had to stop driving because they did not have petrol but 71% were able to continue driving.

The only possible encouragement for Labour (and it is hardly a great consolation) is that, as with the earlier polls, anger with the government's performance is expressed by respondents turning to various parties, rather than to just one.

The Conservatives gained 5% in this poll but the Lib Dems gained 6% and minor parties gained 2%.

The party conference season will put politics and politicians under the spotlight and further polls should reveal whether the tidal wave that has just swept over Labour really has altered the political landscape substantially and permanently.