Prime Minister Gordon Brown's political honeymoon shows no sign of ending after he steered Labour to a five-point poll lead and saw his personal ratings soar.
Although the Ipsos MORI poll saw the ruling party drop a point since Mr Brown became leader in June, to 38%, the Tories were down three on 33%.
The sustained advantage will further fuel speculation that he will call a quick general election possibly as early as October.
The new PM appears to have benefited from being forced to deal with a series of crises - floods; car bombs; and now foot-and-mouth disease - since taking power.
Some 69% said he was the best leader for the country in such situations, compared to just 10% who would rather see Conservative rival David Cameron dealing with them.
And significantly most (51%) also said they believed the Prime Minister "best understands the problems facing Britain", three times the rating for Mr Cameron.
A majority (54%) now consider him trustworthy, well ahead of the Tory leader, who has been hit by internal party criticism in recent weeks, on 36%, with 37% more likely to vote Labour under Mr Brown than predecessor Tony Blair.
The Liberal Democrats remained stable at 15%.
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,010 adults in Great Britain by telephone between on August 8 and 9.
