LONDON, Oct 4 (AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's popularity has increased since he underwent an operation last week to correct an irregular heartbeat, according to an opinion poll published in The Times on Monday.
Thirty-five percent of respondents to the Populus Institute poll said they would vote for Blair's ruling Labour party if a general election were held now.
That figure is a three-percent increase over a similar poll held a month ago, while support for the opposition Conservatives was down two percent to 28 percent in the latest poll. The Liberal Democrats received 25 percent of the support of those polled, one point up on last month.
Regarding personal popularity, Blair scored 5.31 out of ten in the opinion poll, against 4.98 for Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and 4.15 for Conservative party boss Michael Howard.
Blair's popularity is thus the highest it has been since the end of major military operations in Iraq in May 2003, The Times reported.
However more than half of those questioned thought Blair should quit now or very soon (39 percent) or soon after the next elections, expected to be held in the spring (16 percent).
Thirty-six percent expressed the wish that the Prime Minister will stay on until the end of a third term, as he intends to do if re-elected.
Howard's popularity, according to the poll, is now at its lowest ebb since he took up the reins of the Conservative Party last autumn.
The Conservatives' loss has boosted the fortunes of the small but growing United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) which advocates British withdrawal from the European Union.
More than two-thirds of Conservative supporters hope Howard will adopt a more Eurosceptic stance, according to The Times.
Blair, 51, spent the weekend at Chequers, the country retreat outside London used by British prime ministers, having pronounced himself in "excellent" health as he set off there on Saturday, accompanied by his wife Cherie.
It was a welcome rest after a rough-and-tumble week in which Blair tried to heal divisions over Iraq at the Labour Party conference, then underwent a two-and-a-half hour operation Friday to correct a recurring irregular heartbeat.
In announcing his heart operation late Thursday, Blair also surprised the political establishment by declaring that if Labour won the next general election he would serve a third complete term as prime minister but no more.
No other British premier has ever made such an announcement. It has been seen by pundits as a shrewd attempt by Blair to head off challenges to his own leadership inside an increasingly restive Labour Party.
The Populus Institute polled 1,004 adults between September 30 and October 2, therefore mainly after Blair's operation.