(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The Conservative party has established itself as the most popular political organization in Britain, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 43 per cent of respondents would support the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, up two points since early July.

The governing Labour party is second with 27 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 18 per cent. 12 per cent of respondents would vote for other parties.

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

On Jul. 30, Cameron discussed his views on alcohol, saying, "Children should be introduced to the idea that drinking is something you can do socially with a meal, and something that is part of life. Some of the friends I had, the ones who had the biggest problems, were the ones who were never allowed to drink anything at home. The ones who drink responsibly were the ones who were given a glass of wine or a small glass of beer or a shandy."

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 the general election was tomorrow, which party would you vote for?

Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,002 British adults, conducted from Jul. 25 to Jul. 27, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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