Sunday, Jun 30, 2002
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By Hasan Suroor
Even those who recognise that it is in the nature of opinion polls to swing are slightly puzzled by the sudden surge this week in the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair's popularity after he was widely seen to be in the dumps. There were moments in recent weeks when his best supporters were tempted to believe that he had started to lose the plot. Nothing seemed to be going right as he struggled to fend off allegations of sleaze against his Government, defend his Ministers' conduct and deflect rumours of a simmering `revolt' in the Cabinet — not to mention protect his high-profile wife, Cherie, from media attacks. Mr. Blair was reported to be so concerned that when he called a press conference last week, it was immediately interpreted as a desperate fence-mending exercise — a peace offering to an increasingly hostile media which, if not humoured in good time, he reckoned, could go on to inflict more damage. And the strategy worked. Almost overnight, the hounds were reined in, if not called off; the climate became markedly less febrile; and for the first time in weeks we were treated to reports of his high popularity ratings. Two separate opinion polls this week show that he remains the country's "supreme'' leader-with Labour way ahead of the Tories and his personal ratings unaffected by the recent controversies. Significantly one such poll was published on Thursday by The Daily Telegraph which only a week ago told its readers in a screaming front-page story that "56 pc don't trust Blair,'' according to a survey it had done. ``Whitehall insiders say there is a mood of `near panic'' in Downing Street over the apparently relentless slide in the Government's reputation for integrity,'' it said after disclosing that its survey `confirmed' that the Blair Government had been "badly damaged by its obsession with presentation...'' That was on the morning Mr. Blair was to address the media. A week after the press conference, this is what it said following yet another survey: "Despite the spin and spats, Labour maintains its lead''. The story, though buried inside, said nearly half of the respondents wanted to see Mr. Blair back in Downing Street after the next elections. And the support for the Tories had dropped by one point compared to last year, around this time. A poll in The Guardian on Tuesday was even more enthusiastic saying Mr. Blair had emerged `unscathed' from recent media and Opposition attacks. The Labour's lead had in fact risen by two points in the last month, and Mr. Blair's "satisfaction rating'' had remained largely unaffected, it said. So, whatever happened to all those dire predictions — including one in The Sunday Times — that gave Mr. Blair his worst popular ratings since he came to power in 1997. Was it the press conference that did it? Never mind, it has been a great revival for Mr. Blair and now that he knows the trick he can try it again at the next hint of a drop in ratings.
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