(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Britain’s two main political parties are losing supporters to the Liberal Democrats and other groups, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the opposition Conservative party in the next general election, down four points since early April.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Britain’s two main political parties are losing supporters to the Liberal Democrats and other groups, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the opposition Conservative party in the next general election, down four points since early April.
The governing Labour party is second with 26 per cent, down four points. The Liberal Democrats are third with 22 per cent, up four points. 13 per cent of respondents would vote for another party, also up four points in a month.
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.
Earlier this month, British newspaper Daily Telegraph published a leaked memo showing that several lawmakers have spent their allowances on things such as tennis court repairs, horse manure, light bulbs, pornographic movies and even mortgage payments. The scandalous revelations have greatly affected the reputation of Britain’s Parliament, mostly because such expenses billed to the tax payers are technically allowed due to loose regulation. Members of all major political parties have been implicated in the scandal.
On May 19, Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons, resigned—a first in over three centuries—over the expense row. Martin was accused of resisting new legislation that would have made lawmakers’ expenses more transparent.
Brown has resisted calls to call an early election.
On May 27, Clegg proposed a working plan of 100 days to solve the current crisis, saying, "Let us bar the gates of Westminster and stop MPs leaving for their summer holidays until this crisis has been sorted out, and every nook and cranny of our political system reformed."
Polling Data
If the general election was tomorrow, which party would you vote for?
|
|
May 8 |
Apr. 6 |
Mar. 8 |
|
Conservative |
39% |
43% |
42% |
|
Labour |
26% |
30% |
30% |
|
Liberal Democrats |
22% |
18% |
19% |
|
Other |
13% |
9% |
9% |
Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,504 British adults, conducted from May 6 to May 8, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
