The Hutton inquiry into the apparent suicide of Government weapons expert Dr David Kelly has badly damaged British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair's reputation, a new poll suggests.
The Guardian/ICM poll, to be published tomorrow, found Mr Blair's personal ratings slumped over the summer from minus 17 in July to minus 29 points now.
The poll suggests Mr Blair was now widely seen by the electorate as an out-of-touch, untrustworthy leader who spends too much time abroad and is too concerned with "spin".
On the plus side, it also shows that a clear majority of voters, and not just Labour voters, still regard Mr Blair as a competent Prime Minister who stands by his principles.
The poll shows 61 per cent of voters are unhappy with the job Mr Blair is doing and only 32 per cent are satisfied - giving him a net personal rating of minus 29 points.
The summer dip has left Mr Blair facing his most difficult times since the petrol crisis of September 2000, when his personal rating touched minus 34 points.
The survey confirms Mr Blair's cross-party appeal has evaporated, with 84 per cent of Tory voters and 78 per cent of Liberal Democrats unhappy with his performance.
He still enjoys the support of 69 per cent of Labour voters - but even this figure has fallen by six points in the past two months.
Mr Blair's rating for 'trustworthiness' has fallen by nine points since July to only 30 per cent now.
The poll also shows he is widely seen as out-of-touch with ordinary people - down three points since July to 31 per cent.
ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,002 adults aged 18 and over from across the country by telephone between September 19 and 21.