July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair's approval rating dipped to a record low, while popularity for David Cameron, the leader of the U.K.'s opposition Conservative Party, also slipped, a poll by Ipsos Mori showed today.

Sixty-seven percent of voters said they were dissatisfied with the way Blair is doing his job, while 23 percent said they approved of what he's doing. The gap of 44 points against was the lowest since Blair took office in 1997, Mori said.

The figures capped a round of surveys showing Britain's opposition Conservative Party gaining support from Blair's Labour Party. While Blair's poll ratings dipped, so did Cameron's. That finding eases pressure on Blair, 53, to name a date when he will retire. He has said he will step down before the next election, which must be held by mid-2010.

``Blair's ratings have hit new lows, but perhaps more significantly David Cameron seems to have ended his honeymoon,'' said Anthony Wells, an analyst at the polling company YouGov Plc who analyzed monthly political surveys by that pollster, Mori, Populus Ltd. and ICM Ltd. ``Blair may still be able to go at a time of his own choosing.''

Mori's poll put support for Labour at 32 percent with the Conservatives at 36 percent and Liberal Democrats at 24 percent. Thirty-one percent said they were dissatisfied with Cameron while 29 percent said they were satisfied. YouGov said the balance of people who approve how Cameron is doing his job fell to 2 percent from 14 percent in July.

Middle East

Mori's survey of 2,019 adults was conducted between July 20 and July 24, two days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett failed to agree on calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

U.K. Cabinet ministers have expressed unease about Blair's handing of the situation. Leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw, formerly foreign secretary under Blair, said Israel's reprisals had been ``disproportionate,'' and Environment Secretary David Miliband raised concerns about the response to the clashes at the weekly Cabinet meeting on July 27.

Blair, on a six-day visit to the U.S., shrugged off reports about grumbling in his Cabinet and said he's working to get a cease-fire in the region. He will give his monthly press conference in London on Aug. 3.

``People are, of course, free to express their opinion in their own way,'' Tom Kelly, Blair's official spokesman, told reporters in San Francisco. ``But it is more important to focus on what will bring this to an end.''

Little Change

This month's political polls show little change in support for the parties from June, when the Conservatives picked up backing following gains in local elections in May. Yogi's survey on July 26 showed Conservative support down 1 point at 38 percent, with Labour unchanged at 33 percent and the Liberal Democrats unchanged at 18 percent.

ICM put the Conservatives at 39 percent, the highest in 13 years. Mori's reading for the Liberal Democrats at 24 percent contrasts with the three other surveys putting the nation's No. 3 political party between 17 percent and 19 percent.

``Labor's level of support has remained almost static,'' Wells said. ``It's surprising they haven't done worse because what's happening in Israel is very unpopular.''

In the month leading up to Parliament's summer recess on July 24, police arrested Labour fund-raiser Michael Levy for questioning, and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was criticized by members of Parliament for accepting a Stetson hat and spurs from an American billionaire who was seeking a casino license in London. Levy and Prescott have denied any wrongdoing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Reed V. Landberg in London at landberg@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 31, 2006 07:58 EDT