(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The opposition Conservative party is now the most popular political organization in Britain, according to a poll by ICM Research. 37 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons.

The governing Labour party is second with 35 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 21 per cent. Seven per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for the Tories increased by four points since October, while backing for Labour fell by three points.

In May, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. In the 2001 election, Labour elected 413 parliamentarians. Prime minister Tony Blair has headed the government since 1997.

On Dec. 6, the Conservatives announced that education spokesman David Cameron would be their new leader. Emphasizing that it is not about "crazed political correctness," the 39-year-old Cameron introduced a plan to widen the demographic profile of Conservative candidates. The aim is to have women populate up to half the slate of candidates, which will also include a "significant proportion" of ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. "Until we're represented by men and women in the country, regardless of race or creed, we won't be half the party we could be," Cameron said this week.

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. In October 2004, Blair vowed to retire at the end of his third term in office.

In an election pitting the Cameron-led Tories against the Labour party under current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown, the Conservatives hold a three-point advantage.

Polling Data

If there were to be a general election tomorrow, which party do you think you would vote for?

If the party leaders were David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Charles Kennedy, how would you vote?

Archive Search

Over 19,600 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.