The latest Populus poll for The Times, conducted over the weekend, is bad news not only for Mr Prescott but also for Tony Blair, since more than three fifths of voters want him to step down by the end of next year.

Some 70 per cent of the public, including 59 per cent of Labour voters, believe that Mr Prescott should resign immediately or be sacked. He has been severely damaged by the row over the hospitality he accepted from Philip Anschutz, the American owner of the Millennium Dome, who wants to open a supercasino there.

For nearly a third of voters, this episode alone is enough to bring Mr Prescott’s integrity into question and to justify his resignation. Just 23 per cent of the public, and 37 per cent of Labour voters, believe he has done nothing wrong.

The Conservatives sought to increase pressure on Mr Prescott yesterday by asking him whether he paid tax on the gifts given to him by Mr Anschutz.

Mr Blair’s future is also increasingly in doubt. The number wanting him to stay on after next year has fallen from 34 to 24 per cent since January. The number wanting him to resign this year has risen from 41 to 49 per cent, and those who want him to quit next year have gone up from 9 to 13 per cent. This makes a total of 62 per cent wanting him to resign over the next 18 months.

Mr Blair’s standing with the public is also falling rapidly. His leader rating (on a 0 to 10 scale) now stands at 4.21, down from 5.33 as recently as last January, and 4.72 in May. This is only just above the leader index scores of Iain Duncan Smith in 2003.

At 4.98, David Cameron’s rating remains the highest of the three main party leaders, although he has dropped back since last month. Sir Menzies Campbell’s rating has also slipped from 4.70 to 4.50 — lower than Charles Kennedy’s in his last three years as Liberal Democrat leader.

The Prime Minister’s rating among Labour voters has dropped to 6.56 (from 6.92 in May), his lowest rating. But this is still higher than the standing of the other leaders among their own party supporters.

There has been little change over the past month in voting intentions with the Tories on 36 per cent (down one point), still slightly ahead of Labour, unchanged on 34 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats up a point at 19 per cent.

The political world is now awaiting the Downing Street response to a letter from Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman, about whether Mr Prescott broke the ministerial rules over hospitiality.

It also emerged yesterday that Mr Anschutz has sold the Manchester Arena, his biggest holding apart from the Millennium Dome, for £62 million. He is selling the 20,000-seater arena to the British arm of General Electric.

Meanwhile, the panel that will decide where Britain’s first supercasino is to be located was described as “flawed” by Malcolm Moss, a Tory culture spokesman, because all five members have links to at least one of the cities on the shortlist, according to a leaked copy of the statement declaring each member’s interests. One member, James Froomberg, declares links with five of the eight cities bidding for a supercasino.

• Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,512 adults aged over 18 by telephone between July 7 and 9. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have bveen weighted to be representative of all adults. The sample has been split in half for the answers to several of the questions. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. For more details go to www.populuslimited.com.

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