September 20, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s governing Labour party is maintaining its advantage over all other political organizations in the country, according to a poll by YouGov. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for Labour in the next election to the House of Commons.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s governing Labour party is maintaining its advantage over all other political organizations in the country, according to a poll by YouGov. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for Labour in the next election to the House of Commons.

The opposition Conservative party is second with 34 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 15 per cent. 12 per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for Labour increased by one point since late August, while backing for the Tories fell by the same margin.

In June, 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 March 2006, the Liberal Democrats chose foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell as their new leader.

On Sept. 17, Cameron accused the governing party’s leaders of allowing a debt crisis to unfold in the country. Cameron said Blair and Brown had presided over a "huge expansion of public and private debt without showing awareness of the risks involved," adding, "Under Labour our economic growth has been built on a mountain of debt."

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?

	Sept. 14	Aug. 31	Aug. 28
Labour	39%	38%	41%
Conservative	34%	35%	33%
Liberal Democrats	15%	15%	14%
Other	12%	12%	12%

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,842 British adults, conducted on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14, 2007. No margin of error was provided.