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Gordon Brown is under increasing pressure to call an immediate General Election as a poll revealed that more than half of the population want him to go to the country now.
Some 54% backed demands for an election to be held as soon as possible, compared with 38% who did not, in a Populus survey for ITV News At Ten.
The Prime Minister is resisting calls from Tory leader David Cameron for a snap election in the aftermath of the expenses revelations which have rocked the House of Commons.
The poll also found that support for fringe parties, including the British National Party, had increased by five percentage points since a similar poll 10 days earlier. That appeared to be largely at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, who were down five on 17%.
Support for the two main parties has showed little change, with the Tories on 39%, 12 points ahead of Labour on 27%.
But the proportion saying they would definitely vote at the next election was only 45% - compared with the 61% turnout in 2005 - a statistic which will alarm the established parties.
The BNP was on 4%, while the UK Independence Party was on 6%.
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Populus director Rick Nye said: "All established political parties have been damaged by the row over MPs' expenses and so - it seems - has people's faith in the overall political process.
"The number of people who say they'll definitely vote at the next General Election has fallen by nearly a quarter since the row began, and fewer than half of the electorate now say they would turn out to vote.
"Outsiders seem to be the only beneficiaries in all this."
