(04/30/09) -

Tories Surge, Labour Stumbles in Britain

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains well positioned in Britain, according to a poll by YouGov. 45 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next general election, up four points since early April.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains well positioned in Britain, according to a poll by YouGov. 45 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next general election, up four points since early April.

The governing Labour party is second with 27 per cent—down seven points—followed by the Liberal Democrats with 18 per cent. 10 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 December 2007, current parliamentarian Nick Clegg became the new leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Yesterday, Brown announced that Britain would deploy 700 additional soldiers to Afghanistan, adding, "Our strategy is to ensure the country is strong enough as a democracy to withstand and overcome the terrorist threat. (…) The greatest international priority is the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are the crucible of global terrorism."

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 there were a general election tomorrow, which party would you vote for?

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,896 British voters, conducted on Apr. 22 and Apr. 23, 2009. No margin of error was provided.