Gordon Brown lacks a popular mandate to succeed Tony Blair, with voters confused and divided about the political direction the chancellor would take the country, a survey for the FT has found.

The Harris Interactive survey suggests a big political hurdle for the transition to a Brown premiership may be public apathy rather than antipathy. The “Project Gordon” public relations exercise to improve the chancellor’s image has not yet translated into majority support for his candidacy, even within his own party, according to the poll.