LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was left reeling Friday from one of his worst weeks since taking power, as an ex-minister warned of a policy void in a British government facing elections in barely a year. Amid slumping opinion poll ratings, a growing number of commentators are lining up to predict electoral defeat for the ruling Labour Party, which Brown has led since succeeding Tony Blair in June 2007. Labour has lost its political antennae and needs to get them back. We have no underlying domestic social policy, said former interior minister David Blunkett. We have got to get our heads up again. We have got to get back to old-fashioned politics thats in touch with people we seek to represent and avoid self-inflicted wounds, he told the left-leaning Guardian newspaper. Another former interior minister, Charles Clarke, told the BBC Friday that he was ashamed to be a Labour MP because of the ruling partys struggles. Watching it develop its woes was absolutely terrible, he added. Brown, a former finance minister, had seen a boost in his poll fortunes from the global economic slowdown, which played to his strengths as a safe pair of hands on the tiller in the storm. But an email scandal, a poorly received budget and two embarrassing parliamentary defeats have turned the tide firmly against him in the countdown to a general election which must be held by June next year. And with European elections just weeks away, and widely expected catastrophic results for Labour, the government is unlikely to get a breather any time soon. It all marks a sharp departure from Browns performance at the April 2 summit of the Group of 20 in London, where he was widely praised for having made a strong first step in co-ordinating a global economic recovery. To be honest, morales pretty low, a source within the Labour Party, who is involved in planning the partys European election campaign at a regional level, told AFP. Its frustrating, because you know that he (Brown) is really, really good at some of the other leader-like and statesman-like things, like the G20, said the source, who did not want to be named. Browns difficulties began on Easter weekend, when a senior Downing Street advisor, Damian McBride, was forced to resign after writing e-mails mooting a smear campaign against senior opposition lawmakers. Just days later, finance minister Alistair Darling unveiled a budget projecting that the economy would shrink at the fastest rate since World War II. He also forecast massive public debt and announced a higher-than-expected 50-percent tax rate for the rich. This week he was embarrassed when the Opposition - with the support of 27 Labour MPs - passed a parliamentary motion calling for all Gurkhas who have served for the British military settle here. And on Thursday, parliament snubbed wide-ranging reforms to the way British MPs claim expenses proposed by Brown in favour of watered-down proposals. The issue moved up the agenda after a number of deputies - including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - were criticised over their use of a lucrative second homes allowance. Brown will be looking forward to some respite this weekend - but polls show that he faces a huge challenge to revive his flagging fortunes. A poll published in the Independent newspaper Tuesday gave Opposition Conservatives a 19-point lead, up five points to 45pc, while Browns party slumped two percent to 26pc. The right-wing Daily Mail said the Gurkhas issue and the expenses vote were signs of a deeper problem. On one level, this is simply a political setback... But on another level, it is about the governments inability to get its legislation through the Commons, the Paper said. On that score, its a week Mr Brown will want to forget.