June 21, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Britain are decidedly backing the opposition Conservative party, according to a poll by YouGov. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the party led by David Cameron in the next election to the House of Commons, unchanged since late May.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Britain are decidedly backing the opposition Conservative party, according to a poll by YouGov. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the party led by David Cameron in the next election to the House of Commons, unchanged since late May.

The governing Labour party is second with 25 per cent—up two points in two weeks—followed by the Liberal Democrats with 18 per cent. Ten 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, 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 Jun. 17, Brown said British cabinet ministers will not receive a pay increase this year due to the country’s high inflation rate, declaring, "Given the importance of public sector pay restraint at a time of economic uncertainty, ministers will not be accepting any pay rise." An independent panel had suggested that cabinet ministers receive a 1.5 per cent pay increase this year.

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?

	Jun. 13	May 29	May 16
Conservative	47%	47%	45%
Labour	25%	23%	25%
Liberal Democrats	18%	18%	18%
Other	10%	12%	12%

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,769 British voters, conducted on Jun. 12 and Jun. 13, 2008. No margin of error was provided.