July 01, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain want the next government to be formed by the Conservative party, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 54 per cent of respondents would prefer an administration headed by David Cameron, up 22 points since September.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain want the next government to be formed by the Conservative party, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 54 per cent of respondents would prefer an administration headed by David Cameron, up 22 points since September.

Conversely, 29 per cent of respondents would prefer a Labour government led by current prime minister Gordon Brown, down 18 points in nine months.

In the preferred prime minister category, Cameron holds a 19-point advantage over Brown, with six per cent of respondents selecting Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

In June 2007, 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, Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In October 2007, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot.

In December 2007, current parliamentarian Clegg became the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, defeating environment spokesman Chris Huhne in a leadership ballot by just over 500 votes.

Last month, Conservative candidate John Howell won a by-election in Henley. Cameron praised the result, saying, "I think what we saw was people who voted for all sorts of different parties, including the Liberal Democrats, now looking at the Conservatives and saying: ‘Yes this is an alternative government that I can believe in’."

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 you had to choose, which would you prefer to see after the next election, a Conservative government led by David Cameron or a Labour government led by Gordon Brown?

	Jun. 2008	Sept. 2007
Conservative government led by David Cameron	54%	32%
Labour government led by Gordon Brown	29%	47%
Don’t know	17%	21%

Who would make the best prime minister?

	Jun. 2008	May 2008
David Cameron	37%	39%
Gordon Brown	18%	17%
Nick Clegg	6%	7%
Don’t know	39%	38%

Source: YouGov / Daily Telegraph
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,163 British voters, conducted from Jun. 23 to Jun. 25, 2008. No margin of error was provided.