Brown sees Labour support hit record low

The British Labour Party is less popular than ever, according to a new opinion poll.

The news will heap further pressure on Gordon Brown today as he seeks to recover from last week’s local election defeat.

The YouGov poll for The Sun newspaper put the Prime Minister’s party on just 23% – its lowest score since records began in the 1930s and a massive 26 points behind the Conservatives.

David Cameron’s Opposition, fresh from success at the ballot box last week, secured the support of almost half of voters (49%).

Labour’s support was even lower than the share of the vote it received in the local election defeat at which it lost hundreds of seats and lost the London Mayoralty to Boris Johnson.

The poor poll results for the government less than a fortnight before Labour faces a crunch by-election in Crewe and Nantwich, a seat the Conservatives hope to wrest from it.

There was some good news for Brown in the poll, however: his party would be even less popular if it was led by the favourites among his colleagues to succeed him – or even predecessor Tony Blair.

The Conservative score was five points up on last month, while Labour dropped three and the Liberal Democrats remained at 17%.

Eight months ago, the same polling firm gave Labour an 11-point lead.

YouGov sampled 1,571 adults online between May 7 and 8.