Almost half of British voters want Prime Minister Tony Blair to quit Downing Street immediately, according to a new poll.
Some 40 per cent thought the Prime Minister should resign now while another 10 per cent said he should be gone by next May, an ICM survey for the Sunday Mirrorfound.
It also showed that Labour still trails David Cameron's Conservatives, in spite of a three point fall in Tory support since last month. The Tories' predicted share of the vote was now 37 per cent, compared with 33 per cent for Labour and 21 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.
The findings, which will keep up pressure on Mr Blair, came as Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton was tipped as a likely candidate to challenge Mr Brown for the Labour leadership.
But the poll placed Gordon Brown as the runaway favourite to become the next prime minister, being the preferred choice of 33 per cent of voters to take over from Mr Blair as Labour leader.
Next most popular choice was the Home Secretary, John Reid, who was named by just 7 per cent. He was followed on 5 per cent by his predecessor, Charles Clarke, who has voiced criticism of the Prime Minister and Mr Brown since being sacked after the released foreign prisoners debacle.
Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary who was seen to present himself as a potential leadership candidate this week, is supported by only 4 per cent of voters.
The Sunday Telegraphclaimed Mr Hutton was being touted as the strongest Blairite candidate to block the Chancellor.
There has been fevered speculation over the last week that Mr Johnson would enter the contest after failing to rule himself out despite several opportunities to do so.
However, he has reportedly been dismissed by the Prime Minister's supporters as "not really" Blairite enough. In an interview with The Observer, he appealed to Labour traditionalists by declaring his "bitter" opposition to selection in schools.
Leader of the Commons Jack Straw also told the paper he had not yet decided whether to run for the deputy leadership.
PA