Lord Mandelson may have become the favourite of the London media and political classes, but he remains a bogeyman for the public as a whole.

A new Populus poll for The Times shows that the Business Secretary is the least trusted of 12 leading politicians.

By contrast Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, is the most trusted, especially by Conservative voters who have more faith in him than they have in George Osborne, their own Shadow Chancellor.

Populus asked voters to rate politicians on a scale of nought to 100, from totally mistrust to trust absolutely. There are no Labour figures in the top six.

Lord Mandelson’s low rating, at 29.4, suggests that the revival in his reputation to become one of the most influential members of the Cabinet has not reached beyond Westminster. His rating among Labour voters — of 50 — is the lowest of any of the dozen among their own party supporters.

Mr Cable, at 52.8, is not only rated higher by Lib Dem voters than Nick Clegg, his own party leader, but he is trusted more by Tories than by Lib Dem supporters. This reflects his high profile during the credit crunch, when he was praised across party lines.

Among Tories he is ahead of all the party’s leading figures apart from David Cameron. Dr Cable is more trusted among Tories than not only Mr Osborne but also William Hague (just), Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, and Michael Gove. But more than two thirds of voters have either never heard of Mr Gove, the Tories’ education spokesman, or do not have a view about him.

Mr Cameron is second among all voters, at 50, and his rating of 72.8 among Tory voters is the highest of anyone in any group. Next come Mr Hague and Mr Clegg.

Gordon Brown is the most trusted Labour figure, on 38.5, while his rating among Labour voters of 70.48 is the second highest in any group. This underlines his dilemma, being trusted by his own supporters, but not by others.

There is no nostalgia for Tony Blair. His overall trust rating is 38.3, just behind Mr Brown, although he does better than other Labour figures among Tory voters.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, on 37.6, is only just behind Mr Blair, but ahead of Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, and Lord Mandelson. Ms Harman, a champion of women’s interests, is trusted more by women, 34.9, than men, 30. But Mr Cameron enjoys the biggest gender bonus, with 52.9 trust by women, and 46.9 by men.

Populus interviewed 1,506 adults aged over 18 by telephone between September 11 and 13. For more details go to www.populus.co.uk.

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