(01/08/10) -

Britons More Likely to Call Cameron “Intelligent” than Brown or Clegg

Britons pick the Conservative leader as their preferred babysitter, sports teammate, and person to recommend a good book.

Britons pick the Conservative leader as their preferred babysitter, sports teammate, and person to recommend a good book.

Britons have a better perception of Conservative leader David Cameron than of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of a representative national sample of 2,002 British adults asked people to choose six words and characteristics to describe each one of the three main party leaders.

Cameron scores higher than Brown and Clegg at being intelligent (42%, 27%, 28%), in touch (22%, 8%, 17%), efficient (21%, 10%, and 13%, respectively), compassionate (20%, 14%, 13%), and strong (20%, 12%, 7%).

However, the Tory leader is also called arrogant (31%) by more people than Brown (30%) or Clegg (9%).

Brown shows the highest scores in the categories of out of touch (48%), boring (46%), inefficient (39%), weak (38%), secretive (28%), dishonest (26%), foolish (25%), and uncaring (20%).

For his part, Clegg gets the highest proportion of people describing him as open (22%, tied with Cameron), down to earth (21%), and honest (19%).

Preferred Leader To…

As part of this survey, respondents were also asked about their preferred leader for specific activities, ranging from serious issues (such as commanding the armed forces) to more mundane endeavours (such as having a beer at the local pub).

Britons would prefer to sit down for a beer with Cameron (21%) over Clegg (20%) or Brown (13%). They would also pick Cameron over the other two political leaders as a trivia quiz teammate (31%); to babysit their kids or those of a relative (29%); to become their sports teammate (28%), and as a person who could recommend a good book to read (23%).

Prime Minister Brown comes last in all of the above scenarios, except for being in a trivia quiz team, where he comes second (18%, followed by Clegg at 15%).

Cameron is also the preferred politician for Britons for negotiating with United States President Barack Obama on trade and security issues (34%); representing the United Kingdom at the London 2012 Olympics (31%); heading the government in the event of a terrorist attack (30%); representing the country in the next round of climate change talks (27%), and acting as head of the Armed Forces (25%).

Prime Minister Brown comes second in all of these more serious categories, followed by Clegg.

Less than a quarter of respondents express any interest in watching any of the three political leaders on a reality TV show, reading their memoirs, or finding out what they were like in high school.

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Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Andy Morris, Research Director, London
+ 44-203-178-3952
andy.morris@angus-reid.com