(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Conservative party could return to government in Britain if a general election takes place soon, according to a poll by Populus released by ITV News. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories, while 27 per cent would support the governing Labour party.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Conservative party could return to government in Britain if a general election takes place soon, according to a poll by Populus released by ITV News. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories, while 27 per cent would support the governing Labour party.
The Liberal Democrats are third with 17 per cent, and 18 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.
Last 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 schedule an early ballot. 54 per cent of respondents believe there should be an immediate general election.
On May 31, Cameron voiced support for establishing a process that would allow voters to replace sitting lawmakers, declaring, "If we cannot have an election now we should start looking at recall powers."
Polling Data
If the general election was tomorrow, which party would you vote for?
|
May 20 |
May 8 |
Apr. 6 |
|
|
Conservative |
39% |
39% |
43% |
|
Labour |
27% |
26% |
30% |
|
Liberal Democrats |
17% |
22% |
18% |
|
Other |
18% |
13% |
9% |
Do you think there should be an immediate general election?
|
Yes |
54% |
|
No |
38% |
|
Don’t know |
8% |
Source: Populus / ITV News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 British adults, conducted on May 19 and May 20, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
