London, Sep 22 (DPA) British voters would favour a "clean break" from the policies of Prime Minister Tony Blair after he steps down within the next 12 months, an opinion poll showed Friday.

The Populus survey conducted for BBC television also surprisingly revealed that an overwhelming number of voters do not see Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as the "natural successor" to Blair.

Blair, who is to attend his last Labour Party conference as leader in Manchester next week, has said he will hand over power to a successor, most likely Brown, by autumn 2007 at the latest.

However, the Populus poll showed that 79 percent of those asked do not view Brown as the right man to deliver a new start.

They believe that Brown is "just as responsible" as Blair for "unpopular policies", including the military involvement in Iraq and measures to part-privatise Britain's state-financed National Health Service (NHS).

The poll suggests that voters see Labour as deeply divided and are unconvinced with Brown's efforts in recent months to improve his public image, with just a third saying he appears "more likeable" than before.

The survey coincided with an ICM poll in Friday's Guardian newspaper which found that 62 percent of those questioned did not think Labour deserves to win the next election, due by 2010 at the latest.

Some 64 percent of respondents in the Guardian poll agreed the Blair government had "run out of steam" and 70 percent said it was "time for a change."