Labour is narrowing the gap on the Conservatives with the imminent departure of Tony Blair, a poll has revealed.
Gordon Brown's campaign for the Labour leadership was also given a boost with the same poll suggesting voters regard him as a better leader than the Conservatives' David Cameron.
The Populus poll for the Times sees Labour jumping four points since a similar survey in April to 33%, with Mr Cameron's party unchanged on 37% and the Liberal Democrats dropping three points to 17%.
But the Conservatives came out better when voters were asked specifically about a contest which matched Mr Brown against Mr Cameron, leading by 42% to 32%, compared to 41% to 30% a month ago.
When asked to rate various leaders on a scale of zero to 10, those taking part in the survey gave Mr Brown the edge over Mr Cameron, giving him an average score of 5, against the Tory leader's 4.95. But both men trailed outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair, who won an average rating of 5.22.
Labour supporters appeared to be more confident than Tories in the man expected to lead them into the next general election, giving Mr Brown an average rating of 6.96 against Mr Cameron's 6.54 rating among Conservative supporters.
Mr Brown was rated "strong" by 34% of those taking part, against 21% for Mr Blair and 19% for Mr Cameron.
But he lagged behind the Conservative leader on being charismatic (9% against 28%), caring about the problems of ordinary people (by 17% to 21%) being likeable (by 13% to 30%) and being in touch with modern Britain (by 15% to 31%).
