Poll says PM should go in 2006

A YouGov survey for the Telegraph has shown that 46 per cent of voters want Tony Blair to resign by this time next year.

And a further 26 per cent of those asked want the prime minister to go within two or three years.

The results come after a weekend which saw Labour loyalists and rebel MPs join forces in calling for Blair to quit Downing Street long before he completes a full third term in Number 10.

Pressure has intensified on the prime minister to stand down since Thursday's general election left the Labour Party with a significantly reduced Commons majority - down from 161 to an expected 66.

However, the YouGov survey does show that among Labour voters Blair's position is much stronger - only 17 per cent want to see him quit in less than a year, and 46 per cent say he should carry on for two or three years.

Gordon Brown, the chancellor, is increasingly viewed by Labour voters as Blair's successor, with 52 per cent saying that they will be pleased when Brown takes the top job.

Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP for Islington North, has predicted that Blair could step down within a year.

Interviewed on the Channel 4 Morgan and Platell programme, Corbyn said: "The idea that we're going to go for several years with a prime minister who's said he's going to resign at some point is really not acceptable.

"I think he might well decide that the end of the G8 presidency is the time to go. I don't think he would want to go in the middle of it."

Britain's one-year presidency of the G8 group of major industrialised countries will finish at the end of 2005.

And John Austin, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, told the Sunday Times Blair was a "liability" and not an asset in this election.

"You can't beat about the bush," Austin said, "Blair was a negative factor on the doorstep, time and time and time again.

"We need a mechanism like the Tories where the grandees go round and tell the leader it is time for him to go."

Referendum

Ian Davidson, MP for Glasgow South West, said that a natural departure date could come after the result of the referendum on the European constitution which is due to be held in spring next year.

And he added: "I would favour a quicker transition. The sooner we could have a reasonably smooth handover, the better."

The list of other MPs who have spoken out in favour of Blair's early departure from Number 10 include John McDonnell, chairman of the socialist campaign group, Bob Wareing, MP for Liverpool West Derby, Christine McCafferty, the Calder Valley MP, Leicestershire North West MP David Taylor and Midlothian MP David Hamilton.

Former minister Glenda Jackson, a vocal critic of the Iraq war and the Hampstead and Highgate MP, also said the public were ready to see the back of Blair.

"The people have spoken," she said. "In fact they've screamed at the top of their lungs.

"And their message is clear. They want Tony Blair gone."

Team win

Robin Cook, another high profile rebel who resigned from Cabinet over the war in Iraq, added his voice to the calls for Blair's resignation saying the election had been won "despite, not because of" Blair.

Speaking on BBC1's Politics Show, Cook said: "Anybody who has been out on the streets, knocking on doors, knows it was the Labour government that won this election.

"The people who benefited from Labour government policies were the ones who put us back in again and I'm glad of that."

Cook did acknowledge that Blair should be respected for delivering two landslide election victories for Labour.

But he added: "The question Tony Blair should be reflecting on this weekend is having achieved this, having secured his place in the history of the Labour Party and the history of Britain, whether now might be a better time to let a new leader in who could then achieve the unity we need if we are going to go forward."

But Blair's allies have sought to remind the Labour dissidents that Labour had been elected on the party manifesto and still enjoyed a secure majority.

David Blunkett led the counter-attack, branding critics as "self indulgent".

The new work and pensions secretary said those saying the prime minister should go after his majority was slashed were trying to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory".