(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five people in Britain want the opposition Conservatives in power, according to a poll by YouGov. 40 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, up three points since early June.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five people in Britain want the opposition Conservatives in power, according to a poll by YouGov. 40 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, up three points since early June.
The governing Labour party is far behind with 24 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 18 per cent. 18 per cent of respondents would vote for a different party.
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.
Brown’s tenure and the Labour party have been severely affected by a major economic crisis and recent revelations concerning the expense claims of British lawmakers. Labour fared poorly in recent local and European elections.
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 re-shuffled his cabinet to deal with the crisis, but seven ministers have resigned over the past few days. The last one, communications minister Stephen Carter, announced he was leaving on Jun. 12.
The prime minister has rejected calls to hold an early general election. Some Labour members have suggested there could be a leadership race within the party before the next ballot is due.
On Jun. 24, as Brown and Cameron clashed over public spending figures in a session in Parliament, new speaker John Bercow interrupted the men to say they were being too loud, declaring, "There is simply far too much noise. The public doesn’t like it and neither do I."
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?
|
|
Jun. 12 |
Jun. 3 |
May 16 |
|
Conservative |
40% |
37% |
39% |
|
Labour |
24% |
21% |
23% |
|
Liberal Democrats |
18% |
19% |
19% |
|
Other |
18% |
23% |
19% |
Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,902 British voters, conducted on Jun. 11 and Jun. 12, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
