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British Voters Flock to Smaller Parties
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More adults in Britain are avoiding the three main parties—Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat—when assessing their choices in the next general election, according to a poll by YouGov. 23 per cent of respondents would vote for other parties, up 13 points since late April.
The opposition Tories are still in first place overall with 37 per cent, followed by the governing Labour party with 21 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats with 19 per cent.
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.
On Jun. 4, three cabinet members—home secretary Jacqui Smith, communities secretary Hazel Blears and work and pensions secretary James Purnell—tendered their resignations ahead of an expected cabinet shuffle. Purnell urged Brown to "stand aside to give our party a fighting chance of winning" the next general election.
Cameron urged Brown to call a snap ballot, declaring, "The argument for a general election has gone from being strong and powerful to completely unanswerable. For the sake of the country, Gordon Brown must carry out the one final act of authority left open to him, go to the Palace and call the general election we have been demanding."
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. 3 |
May 16 |
Apr. 23 |
|
|
Conservative |
37% |
39% |
45% |
|
Labour |
21% |
23% |
27% |
|
Liberal Democrats |
19% |
19% |
18% |
|
Other |
23% |
19% |
10% |
Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 4,014 British voters, conducted on Jun. 2 and Jun. 3, 2009. No margin of error was provided.