Brown set to lead Labour into election bloodbath: opinion poll

London, Sept 21 (PTI) In yet another blow to Britain's embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a poll of marginal seats Sunday predicted that the Labour party under his leadership is heading towards an election bloodbath.

According to the largest ever poll of marginal seats
published in the Observer, the Torries under David Cameron
would win a landslide victory during the poll scheduled to be
held in 2010.

The finding of the survey from around 35,000 voters
across 238 seats conducted for PoliticsHome.com has claimed
that eight cabinet ministers including the Home Secretary and
the Justice Secretary would be swept away in the rout while
the Tories would march into Downing Street with a majority of
146.

The report has also projected defeat for Labour's
progressive faces with women disproportionately more likely to
be defeated and five out of its 13 black or Asian MPs,
including three ministers, voted out.

The survey also indicated that one third of potential
Labour voters in marginal seats would be more likely to back
the party if Brown is replaced.

On the contrary, the inclusion of a lesbian
businesswoman, a 'chick-lit' novelist and a single
mother-turned-farmer in David Cameron's camp along with other
women and gay members, could change the conservative image of
the Tories, it said.

The finding also suggests the succession by foreign
secretary David Miliband for party leadership may depend on
how he challenges the Prime Minister before the election.

Though, Miliband, a potential frontrunner for Labour
leadership, in a party conference Saturday, had asked the
members to unite behind Brown. PTI HSR