(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains well ahead of its rivals in Britain, according to a poll by ComRes published in The Independent. 42 per cent of respondents would support the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The opposition Conservative party remains well ahead of its rivals in Britain, according to a poll by ComRes published in The Independent. 42 per cent of respondents would support the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons.
The governing Labour party is second with 24 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 18 per cent. 16 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.
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 May, 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.
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, and several of his ministers resigned. 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 Jul. 29, Cameron rejected the notion that an electoral victory would be easy, saying, "Margaret Thatcher had to win 40 seats to get a majority, just to win. We need to win 120 seats. Everything has got to go right. (…) We are really focused on what we need to do between now and the next election. I really don’t take it for granted."
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, would you vote Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat or some other party?
|
Jul. 26 |
Apr. 26 |
|
|
Conservative |
42% |
45% |
|
Labour |
24% |
26% |
|
Liberal Democrat |
18% |
17% |
|
Other |
16% |
12% |
Source: ComRes / The Independent
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,008 British adults, conducted from Jul. 24 to Jul. 26, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
