A new poll has predicted that turnout could sink to a new low at the next general election.

Declining voter engagement with the political process has been a major issue since turnout in the 2001 election collapsed to just 58 per cent.

And on Monday a YouGov poll for the Sun predicted that the trend could continue.

It found that only half the public were "absolutely certain" to vote, a figure that fell to 35 per cent among the under-30s.

While 72 per cent of Conservative supporters are certain to vote, only 61 per cent of Labour's backers are committed to doing the same.

The survey also found that just 26 per cent are interested in who governs Britain, a figure that drops to 23 per cent when it comes to running local councils.

And with Europe topping the agenda and elections to the EU parliament taking place in June, just 11 per cent were concerned by the result that election would produce.

The finding are likely to prompt renewed concern about the connection between the public and politicians.

Declining turnout has already prompted moves to increase postal voting as well as the use of text messages and the internet.

YouGov questioned a representative sample of 2,462 electors across Britain online on April 15-17.