Thankfully, support for Labour has crashed to its lowest level for almost 20 years, according to a new poll. The ICM survey for today's Guardian finds that just 29 per cent of voters are backing the party, its lowest ebb since its disastrous 1987 result under Neil Kinnock.

The collapse in Labour support confirms the ongoing row over allegations that peerages have been traded for cash and uncertainty over the party's leadership have severely dented its standing.

The findings will heighten mounting unease among Labour MPs that Tony Blair's 'long goodbye' from Downing Street is damaging the party.

Mr Blair, who broke records for popularity when he won power in 1997, is seen by many backbenchers as having become an electoral liability.

The Government's reputation for honesty has also been compromised by the 'cash for peerages' row, which is still being probed by Scotland Yard, and the sex scandal that reduced John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, to a figure of farce.