Labour majority wants PM out by autumn next year

Two thirds of Labour MP's want Tony Blair to step down next year with the Iraq war named the governments biggest mistake by 52% of the party's members. Subservience to the US was listed the second biggest the mistake the government has made by 49% of those polled.

Almost a quarter of the party said they were close or "quite close" to quitting the party over the decision to invade Iraq.

The findings, the first substantial poll of party members for a decade, are remarkable for disclosing the depths of disenchantment even among many of the party's remaining 200,000 - presumably most loyal - members. Only half the party believe the government has been mostly faithful to its fundamental values.

The levels of disillusionment from a parallel poll of lapsed members is even stronger, with 54% wanting Mr Blair to stand down this year and 23% next year. Party membership has fallen below 200,000, Labour disclosed this week.

A quarter of current party members think that rich donors have a "great deal of influence", with a further half claiming they have "some influence". Yet 62% believe individual donors should have no influence.

In a blow to Mr Blair's efforts to secure a legacy, members believe policies most associated with the chancellor, Gordon Brown - a stable economy and tax credits to help the poor - have been the most successful aspects of the Labour government. The poll also reveals members want the deputy leader, John Prescott, to stand down at the same time as Mr Blair.

The findings come in a You.Gov poll for a commission on Labour democracy chaired by Michael Meacher, which is the biggest poll of party members for a decade. Mr Meacher stressed the poll's purpose was not to oust Mr Blair, but to unearth the sense of a lack of democratic accountability inside Labour.

The fact that the party are prepared to wait until next year to replace Blair strikes me as an act of generosity. Blair has long ago lost contact with the party that he is supposed to lead and is now every bit as detached from the party grassroots as Thatcher was before the Tories ousted her.

The interesting thing here is that the Labour party do not have a similar mechanism for removing their leader as the one that the Tories employed to relieve themselves of The Iron Lady.

Blair's demise, whilst so close you can almost smell it, will nevertheless be a very messy affair as he will fight to the last.

However, as I've long predicted, when the day comes and Blair steps down, the words on his tombstone will read - IRAQ.

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