It's the last working day before party conference season starts on Sunday. Not shopping-days-to-Christmas, admittedly, but there is a clutch of polls out today looking towards the political terrain ahead.
The first (and I believe this is the first time news blog has referred to a poll from this source) is from First News, the children's newspaper set up by Blair supporter-turned-opponent Piers Morgan. It finds that Tony Blair is not only unpopular among some TUC members and Labour MPs but also opposed by a majority of eight to 14-year-olds. Of 1,125 (non-voting) respondents, <a href="http://www.firstnews.co.uk/Headlines/World-News/kids.aspx"
">60% do not think he is doing a good job running the country.
The second, a Populus poll for the Times, deals with the impressions voters hold of themselves and the major party leaders. On a scale of 0-10 from left to right, Mr Blair and the average voter are both pitched in the centre ground (at 5.29 and 5.27 respectively - ie the PM is 0.02 to the right of the average) while Menzies Campbell and Gordon Brown are to the left on 4.82 and 4.85. David Cameron scores a 6, marginally to the left of his party's 6.09 ranking.
Such measures of political sensibilites are two-dimensional and crude - but there is something remarkable about Mr Blair clinging so tenaciously to the percieved centre ground, especially in the face of his apparent switch from Labour election winner to electoral liability. Perhaps plans for a Tony Blair School of Government, reported in today's Guardian make some sense after all.
