More than one third of the British public want Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down over the Iraq war, according to an opinion poll released Sunday.

However, the YouGov poll in The Mail showed that a clear majority of the public do not blame Blair for the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley by Iraqi militants, saying that the government had done everything it could to rescue the engineer.

Despite his plummeting popularity, all polls indicated that Blair's Labor Party will easily beat the opposition Conservatives in national elections expected next May. Blair has announced his intention for a third term.

The latest poll by The Sunday Telegraph showed the main opposition party had just 30 percent of support, nine points behind Labor.

Another poll showed that 29 percent of respondents said Blair still was the most trusted political leader in Britain. Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy came second with 25 percent, narrowly ahead of Conservative Party leader Michael Howard with 24 percent.

According to the poll, Blair's Labor Party is also most trusted to "do the right things on issues that matter most," backed by 34 percent of the polled, compared with the Conservatives at 22 percent and the Liberal Democrats at 21 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2004)