January 15, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party has lost public support this month, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 37 per cent of respondents would back the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, down three points since early December.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party has lost public support this month, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 37 per cent of respondents would back the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, down three points since early December.

The governing Labour party is second with 33 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 19 per cent. Support for Labour increased by one point, while backing for the Lib-Dems went up by three points.

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.

Last month, current parliamentarian Nick Clegg defeated environment spokesman Chris Huhne in a leadership ballot of Liberal Democrat members by just over 500 votes. In his acceptance speech, Clegg said he wants the Lib-Dems to be "the future of politics" in Britain.

On Jan. 9, during Clegg’s first question period at the House of Commons, the new Lib-Dem leader urged the government to help people affected by high oil prices. Clegg asked Brown: "Will you agree today to take action to stop the energy companies from hitting the poorest families with higher bills on prepaid metres so we can end the scandal of the poorest families paying the most for their energy needs?" Brown responded by saying there was "always an open door" for Clegg to discuss issues of common interest, and adding, "We will do everything in our power to avoid fuel poverty in this country."

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?

	Jan. 6	Dec. 9	Nov. 4
Conservative	37%	40%	36%
Labour	33%	32%	37%
Liberal Democrats	19%	16%	16%
Other	11%	11%	11%

Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,509 British adults, conducted from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6, 2008. No margin of error was provided.