Poll position

Labour is entering the conference season ahead of the Tories (and well ahead of Ming's squeezed Liberal Democrats). A ComRes poll in today's Independent and the latest Yougov in yesterday's Sunday Times have given Labour leads of three and five points respectively. What's more, YouGov shows 65% of people think Gordon Brown is doing a good job, with only 17% believing otherwise. David Cameron has only 29% favourable, 55% negative, comparable to Ming's 43% negative, 24% positive rating. Moreover, the Tories' green gimmickry fails to impress the voters, which may explain their poor showing. Whether the troubles of Northern Rock impact on polling figures remains to be seen, though voters may not appreciate the disgraceful attempts by David Cameron to talk the economy down. After all, his advice to Norman Lamont as Britain crashed out of the ERM hardly inspired confidence, did it?