Nearly 80 per cent of respondents to a poll on The Times website believe the Labour Party should take the cue from the Nationalist Party and elect a new leader.

A mere 16 per cent answered no to the question while four per cent felt the time was not yet ripe for the party to elect a new leader.

A total of 1,911 votes were logged in the seven-day period over which the question was posted on the website.

Those who voted yes totalled 1,519 (79.49 per cent), 309 voted no (16.17 per cent) and 83 said not yet (4.34 per cent).

Visitors to the website were also invited to submit their comments, with most saying that with current leader Alfred Sant still at the helm the MLP risked losing another election.

"Malta in the EU needs a new input and new ideas. The PN and MLP leaders have run out of both and need to be replaced. If the MLP persists in not changing its leader, its credibility will continue to diminish," was one of the comments.

Another said: "The MLP desperately needs a new leader with a sense of direction to take Malta into the future, not back to the past".

Another pointed out that Labour had "some good people on the team" and rather than persisting with their destructive politics they should focus on being more constructive.

Phrases used included "it's time for new blood", "Sant is well past his sell-by-date" and "MLP should reinvent itself".

Others said that the MLP leader had been democratically elected by the party delegates and had the mandate to take the party to the next general election.

One person said that if Labour did not elect a new leader "we will be stuck with a Nationalist government for another five years".

Others suggested that a new Labour leader would help both parties move to a new way of doing politics, which would be extremely beneficial for the country.

The Times website yesterday launched a new poll which touches on another hot issue. The question is: Should smoking be banned in public?