September 13, 2005

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in Britain would support the governing Labour party under a different leader in the next general election, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for Labour under current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in Britain would support the governing Labour party under a different leader in the next general election, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for Labour under current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown.

The Conservative party led by former chancellor of the exchequer Kenneth Clarke is second with 37 per cent, followed by Charles Kennedy's Liberal Democrats with 19 per cent. Five per cent of respondents would support other parties.

In May, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 35.2 per cent of the vote and 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 32.2 per cent and 197 legislators, and the Liberal Democrats with 22 per cent and 62 lawmakers.

Following the election, Tory leader Michael Howard vowed to stand down, saying, "I'm 63 years old. At the time of the next election in four or five years' time I'll be 67 or 68 and I believe that's simply too old to lead a party into government." The new Conservative leader will be chosen in October.

If the next election pits Brown's Labour against the Tories led by shadow home secretary David Davis, the governing political organization holds a 10-point lead.

Last October, British prime minister Tony Blair announced that he would retire at the end of his third term. Brown has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Blair.

Polling Data

Half the sample was asked - If the choice at the next election is between Labour led by Gordon Brown, the Conservatives led by Kenneth Clarke and the Liberal Democrats led by Charles Kennedy, which party would you vote for, or would you vote for some other party or not vote at all?

The other half of the sample was asked - If the choice at the next election is between Labour led by Gordon Brown, the Conservatives led by David Davis and the Liberal Democrats led by Charles Kennedy, which party would you vote for, or would you vote for some other party or not vote at all?

	w/ Clarke	w/ Davis
Labour	39%	43%
Conservative	37%	33%
Liberal Democrats	19%	18%
Other	5%	6%

Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,506 British adults, conducted from Sept. 2 to Sept. 4, 2005. No margin of error was provided.