LONDON, Dec 17: A purported secret document which Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said on Sunday may have been drafted on behalf of the government claims voters believe Tony Blair's Labour party is failing and unlikely to win the next national election, a British newspaper reported.

Britain's Mail on Sunday claimed it had obtained an internal Labour party memo written by senior aides for Mr Blair, which warned that a perception his government had not delivered on key promises was becoming entrenched.

“The government is seen as a shambles. It is not just Labour internal conflicts but a lack of grip and competence on key issues,” the newspaper quoted the purported document as saying.

Blair's office said the memo had not been prepared by his staff or advisers and could not verify its authenticity. “It most certainly does not reflect his views,” a spokesman at the office said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.

Prescott told British Broadcasting Corp. television that Blair's office had “emphatically denied” they had been involved in drafting the memo, but acknowledged it could have been written by a junior member of Labour party staff.

Mr Blair's popularity -- which has won him three national elections since 1997 -- has eroded over the unpopular Iraq war. He has also been dented by recent domestic woes, including a police investigation into allegations he rewarded party donors with political honours.

The newspaper said Blair's likely successor, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, was unlikely to prosper in a contest with David Cameron, the young leader of the main opposition Conservative party.

“People who voted Labour in 2005 are on their way across (to the Conservatives),” the newspaper quoted the document as saying. “Compounding this is an erosion in Gordon Brown's position against David Cameron.”

Brown and Cameron are expected to contest a national election in 2009.—AP