Tories' poll rating at 16-year high

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All three main parties gained a point in the latest YouGov survey for the Sunday Times, meaning Labour remained 16 points behind with the Liberal Democrats on 17%.

But while Labour did not fall further behind, the poll showed only 11% of voters now expect it to secure an overall majority at the next general election.

And Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has endured a difficult week amid serious criticism by Labour MPs of his tax policy, also saw his personal rating plummet.

From a peak of plus 48 in September, it has now dropped to minus 37, which the paper said was the steepest decline endured by any modern resident of Number 10.

Voters indicated that they would prefer to vote for the party if Tony Blair was still leader - with the Tory lead cut to five points.

Opponents' attacks on Mr Brown as a "ditherer" appear to have resounded with the electorate, with 60% backing that analysis and only 26% calling him "decisive".

Most (57%) said he was "floundering" - with only 14% believing the PM was "in control of events".

YouGov questioned a representative sample of 1,755 voters online, across Britain, on April 10-11.