HAD ENOUGH:

Cameron is first Tory to beat Blair on popularity (George Jones, 30/06/2006, Daily Telegraph)

David Cameron has cast off the jinx of unpopularity that has dogged Conservative leaders for more than a decade and is now the public's preferred choice of prime minister, according to a YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph today.

In little more than six months, Mr Cameron has transformed the public perception of his party to become the first of five successive Tory leaders to be more popular than Tony Blair.

The poll will make grim reading for Gordon Brown, the increasingly frustrated "prime minister in waiting". It shows that Mr Cameron is close to trumping the Chancellor's strongest card - a reputation for economic competence - while Mr Brown's personal appeal with the voters is waning.