(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains the first choice for voters in Britain, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 42 per cent of respondents would support the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, down one point since mid-January.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains the first choice for voters in Britain, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 42 per cent of respondents would support the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, down one point since mid-January.
The governing Labour party is second with 28 per cent, down five points in a month. The Liberal Democrats are third with 18 per cent. 12 per cent of respondents would vote for other parties.
In June 2007, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Tony Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.
Since December 2005, David Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In October 2007, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot.
In December 2007, current parliamentarian Nick Clegg became the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, defeating environment spokesman Chris Huhne in a leadership ballot by just over 500 votes.
Since 2007, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—in the United States caused volatility in domestic and global financial markets and ultimately pushed the U.S. economy into a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The crisis has affected the global financial and credit systems, and triggered layoffs in companies around the world.
Britain has been hit hard by the global financial crisis. In 2007, the British Northern Rock bank—a prominent mortgage lender—was forced to seek emergency funding from the government. Brown’s administration has intervened to save bankrupt banks and boost the economy. In November 2008, Brown introduced a "shock-treatment" stimulus package to jump-start the country’s economy through tax cuts, increased government spending and a greater role in government lending. The package was valued at $31 billion U.S.
On Feb. 23, Cameron called for a public inquiry into the financial collapse of Britain’s banking institutions, saying, "I think that it is unthinkable that we could spend all this public money, that we do all these things and at no stage there is an inquiry where we get to the bottom of who established the regulatory system why didn’t it work. Of course there will have to be an inquiry."
The next election to the House of Commons must be held on or before Jun. 3, 2010. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve Parliament and call an early ballot at their discretion.
Polling Data
If the general election was tomorrow, which party would you vote for?
|
Feb. 8 |
Jan. 11 |
Dec. 7 |
|
|
Conservative |
42% |
43% |
39% |
|
Labour |
28% |
33% |
35% |
|
Liberal Democrats |
18% |
15% |
17% |
|
Other |
12% |
9% |
9% |
Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,504 British adults, conducted from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
