(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The opposition Conservative party has a large advantage in Britain, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI. 52 per cent of respondents would vote for the Tories in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points since July.

The governing Labour party is second with 24 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 12 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 Sept. 18, Clegg urged Labour supporters disappointed with Brown’s leadership to back his party, calling on them to "ditch the zombie government," and adding, "I can’t tell you every step on the road for us as a party. But I can tell you where we are headed: government."

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

How would you vote if there were a general election tomorrow? Which party are you most inclined to support?

Source: Ipsos-MORI
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,017 British adults, conducted from Sept. 12 to Sept. 14, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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