Most want Blair to resign according to poll

The majority of British people questioned in a new poll think Tony Blair should resign.

The NOP poll for The Independent found 51% thought the UK prime minister should go, with 35% saying he should stay.

Asked whether they believe Mr Blair lied to the nation over the threat posed by Iraq, 54% said they did and 31% said they did not.

This was a small improvement for the prime minister from a poll last September in which 59% of those questioned thought he had lied.

Today's poll gave the Tories a one point lead over Labour. The Conservatives were on 36% with Labour on 35% and the Liberal Democrats on 24%.

Asked how they would vote if UK Chancellor Gordon Brown took over from Mr Blair, Labour's share of the vote rose only two points to 37%, at the expense of the Lib Dems. The Conservative vote was unchanged.

The poll also showed a majority (68%) think Lord Butler's inquiry into the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq will be "a whitewash", while 23% said they think it will be a genuine attempt to find the truth.

NOP interviewed 1,003 people by telephone between February 4 and 5.