Gordon Brown will go into the Christmas break with Labour falling further behind the Tories, according to an opinion poll.
The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times puts the Conservatives on 45%, up four points on last month and 13 points ahead of Labour who are down three on 32%.
The Liberal Democrats are up one on 14%.
The findings come at the end of a month dominated by the Labour proxy donor scandal, the loss of HM Revenue and Customs child benefit database, and continuing concerns about the economy.
Mr Brown's own approval rating - the difference between those who say he is doing a good job and those who say he is doing badly - has also slumped to minus 26%, down from minus 10% last month.
That compares with the 48% positive approval rating he enjoyed at the height of his post-leadership "bounce" in August.
In contrast, Tory leader David Cameron has a positive rating of 20%.
:: YouGov interviewed 1,481 electors online on December 13 and 14.
