The Labour party and the public are travelling in different directions. Today's Guardian/ICM poll also shows that the divergence has increased since Gordon Brown took over as leader a year ago.

He had hoped to win back support by showing both continuity and change in office. Instead, underlying public trust in his party has declined. The problem goes beyond headline voting intention figures. These are bad - the worst, in some regards, since ICM started polling for the Guardian in 1984. But scepticism about Labour runs more widely: 58% of the people who backed it in 2005 now think the party does not deserve to win a fourth term.

In 2006, ICM asked voters whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about the party. Repeated this month, Labour's position weakened on all but one of them. Asked, for instance, whether they feel Labour understands the needs of "people like me", only 33% of voters agree while 65% disagree - including 45% of recent Labour voters.

But there is some hope for the party, too. Labour's hypothetical share of the vote in an immediate general election, just 27%, is now smaller than the share of voters who sympathise with its aims in government. That suggests recovery is possible.

But it will be hard to achieve. Asked whether they think Labour deserves to win next time, 68% of voters think it does not and only 29% think it does. Of course many of the people who do not want Labour to win are Conservative or Liberal Democrat voters. But only 41% of people who voted Labour in 2005 are clear that they want it to win next time, too.

Most voters, 71%, agree with the statement that Labour has run out of steam and ideas. Brown's draft Queen's speech, which aimed to show he has a long-term agenda, has had no effect. In 2006, Labour lagged 31 points behind on this. Now the deficit has grown to 45 points.

Asked whether they think Labour is taking the country in the right direction, only 29% agree and 68% disagree, a deficit of 39 points. In 2006 the deficit was only 25 points.

Labour has gained ground on only one issue since 2006, internal division. Then, the proportion of voters who agreed the party was more divided than the Conservatives outweighed those who disagreed by 46 points. Now, the gap is only 38 points. But the verdict is still against Labour - and the improvement comes down to the fact that Blair and Brown are no longer fighting, as they were in 2006. If the polls continue to be as bad as this for Labour, the infighting may soon return.