ANALYSIS: We should all be worried that voters believe our best Prime Minister is 'Don't Know'
Britain is, by common consent, in the middle of its greatest political crisis since the Second World War.
Brexit is barely six months away, and the Government seems no closer to being able to define precisely what the UK's future relationship with the EU and the rest of the world will look like.
Ten years on from the financial crash, the national debt continues to accumulate at an alarming rate, while the monetary levers for dealing with a future shock become more limited.
Happily, employment levels are at a near-record high. But the rise of in-work poverty remains an apparently insoluble problem.
And ministers seem no closer to coming up with a sustainable and affordable social care system to deal with Britain's ageing population.
By any measure, it is an era which demands firm leadership and a clear plan of action.
Above all, it calls for politicians with vision and authority, backed by a clear popular mandate.
However, an opinion poll this morning simply confirms that voters are of the view that they simply do not exist.
According to the YouGov survey, just 36% of the public believe Theresa May makes the best Prime Minister. For Jeremy Corbyn, the figure is a miserly 23%.
Most worryingly, however, is that fact that both are beaten by 'Don't Know' on 39%. It's official, British voters would rather see a shrug of the shoulders in 10 Downing Street than the leaders of either the Conservatives or Labour.
And it's important to point out that this is not a blip. Rather, it is the 11th YouGov poll in a row in which Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have trailed in second and third in what should be a two-horse race.
This means that were there to be a general election tomorrow, nearly 4 in 10 voters would be heading to the polls with no confidence that either of our two main political leaders would be able to extricate the country from the mess it finds itself in. That is a deeply worrying state of affairs.
Moderates may point to a weekend poll suggesting that 52% of voters could back a new, centrist party at the next election. But the chances of that being an option are slim, and there is little proof that there is sufficient enthusiasm for setting one up, even among those MPs currently frustrated by their own parties' current direction.
Of course, it is highly unlikely that voters will be given the option of another May-led government by the time the next general election takes place, given the growing desire among her MPs to see the back of her. But it's virtually a nailed-on certainty that Corbyn's name will be on the ballot paper.
Whatever options the country is presented with, it's obvious that more of the same will not cut it.
The message from the public to our political leaders is crystal clear: it's time to raise your game.
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