In the case of this poll therefore, what we don't know is how people would have answered a question saying how would you
vote at a general election if Gordon Brown were still leader — given his current
popularity, mentioning his name in the question may have produced worse
results.
Rising affluence drove some voters towards the Tories, even in the industrial hub of the constituency, but the erosion of the Labour
vote was also the
result of Tony Blair's deteriorating
popularity.