GORDON BROWN faces a fresh blow today with the publication of a Sunday Times poll that shows the Conservatives at their highest level of support for 16 years.

The YouGov survey places David Cameron’s Tories on 44%, 16 points ahead of Labour on 28%, with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats trailing at 17%.

It is the best poll result for the Tories since the summer of 1992, after John Major’s general election victory and months before the Black Wednesday financial debacle destroyed the party’s reputation for a generation. Just one in 10 voters — 11% — now believes that Labour will win the next general election with an overall majority.

The survey also reveals that Brown’s personal poll rating has slid to a historic low of minus 37 — down from a high point of plus 48 last August. The collapse over the past eight months represents the steepest decline in fortunes of any modern prime minister.

To add to Brown’s gloom, voters say they would be more likely to vote Labour if Tony Blair were prime minister. The double-digit gap with the Tories would shrink to just five points (39%-34%) if Blair were still in charge. Only a year ago Blair was regarded as an electoral liability, while Brown was seen as the man who could turn around Labour’s fortunes.

However, one by one, Brown’s perceived assets — his “iron” leadership, ability to control events and lack of “spin” — have disappeared. More than six out 10 voters now say Brown has a tendency to “dither”, with just 26% describing him as “decisive”. Similarly, more than half — 57% — believe the prime minister is “floundering”, with only 14% insisting he was “in control of events”.

Brown, who once prided himself on being a conviction politician in contrast to Blair’s reliance on slick presentation, is now just as guilty of spinning as his predecessor, according to voters.

As concern grows that Britain is heading for recession, more than half of those polled blame the prime minister for their financial woes and only 29% believe that he and Alistair Darling, the chancellor, can be trusted to lead the country through the crisis.

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