More grim poll news for Brown

Gordon’s decision just got trickier. The latest figures from The Guardian / ICM poll show that 48% of voters want a November poll compared to 43% who don’t. However, 58% of Labour supporters don’t want Gordon to go early.

Tory backers are 17% more certain to vote than their Labour counterparts the poll reveals and the people who would be missing from the electoral roll come November are from groups that traditionally support Labour more strongly than the Conservatives. So if Brown goes early there’s a real risk he could end up with a wafer-thin majority or even a hung parliament. But backing down now is not going to be easy with expectations of a poll having been raised so high.

Brown’s personal ratings are bound to take a tumble if he chickens out now. He’ll open himself up to taunts about how he is too scared to find out if he has a mandate or not.