David Cameron’s ratings as a leader and potential prime minister have fallen back further, compared with those of a strengthening Gordon Brown, according to a Populus poll for The Times.

Mr Cameron faced more dissent yesterday as a former Conservative Party chairman and a senior backbencher called on him to abandon efforts to reposition the Conservatives.

The poll, undertaken over the weekend, puts Labour on 39 per cent, up two points compared with four weeks ago. This is the highest since January 2006. The Conservatives are down one point at 33 per cent, their lowest level in a Populus survey since November 2005, just before Mr Cameron became leader. The Liberal Democrats are three points down at 15 per cent, only just ahead of others on 13 per cent, up two points.

The Brown “bounce” has been slightly larger than Mr Cameron’s was 19 months ago. The figures also show how the Lib Dems, having been squeezed when Mr Cameron became leader (losing an average of 2.4 points), have been further squeezed now, losing another 2.2 points in the average of all polls. Mr Cameron is given the lowest rating in having done a good or bad job in responding to the floods. He is on 3.75 on a 0 to 10 scale, well behind Mr Brown on 5.05. The much-criticised Environment Agency comes out at 5.94. The highest ratings go to those directly involved: local authorities (6.14), the Armed Forces (7.82) and the fire service (8.72).

Mr Cameron’s ratings as leader have fallen back. Mr Brown is now ahead on most measures, with the main exception of being charismatic, where Mr Cameron is still ahead by 46 to 25 per cent, just ahead of Sir Menzies Campbell on 22 per cent.However, 71 per cent of voters regard Mr Brown as strong, a six-point drop since the end of June, but 20 points higher than last October, Mr Cameron’s rating on strength has dropped a further four points this month.

There is also a big gap on having what it takes to be a good Prime Minister, where Mr Brown is on 56 per cent (up 19 points since October) compared with 32 per cent for Mr Cameron (down 10 points since then). Mr Cameron, has, however, improved his position, as has Mr Brown by a larger margin, on caring about the problems of ordinary people and being likeable (where Mr Cameron is still ahead by 60 to 53 per cent).

Lord Saatchi, the former party chairman, who worked with Mr Cameron on the last election campaign, urged him to concentrate on restoring the party’s reputation on handling the nation’s finances.

The senior backbencher Edward Leigh echoed the call for an explicitly Conservative agenda. “We need to talk more about immigration, low taxes and Europe. The public have to know what you believe in, otherwise you’ll never win,” said Mr Leigh, a leading figure of Cornerstone, the group of Tory MPs that is the focus of opposition to Mr Cameron’s attempts to modernise the party.

— Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,511 adults aged over 18 by telephone between July 27 and 29. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to be representative of all adults. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council. For more details go to www.populuslimited.com .

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