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Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Labour and Tories Tied, Lib-Dems Fall in Britain
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Britain's top political parties are tied, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI. 39 per cent of respondents would vote for the governing Labour party in the next election to the House of Commons, while 39 per cent would support the opposition Conservative party.
The Liberal Democrats are third with 15 per cent. Eight per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for Labour increased by eight points since December, while backing for the Lib-Dems fell by six points.
In May 2005, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. Labour leader Tony Blair has served as prime minister since 1997. In October 2004, Blair vowed to retire at the end of his third term in office. Current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has been mentioned as his possible replacement.
Last month, the Conservative party announced that David Cameron would be their new leader. The 39-year-old Cameron becomes the fourth person to command the opposition organization in the past eight years. The Liberal Democrats will settle on a new leader by early March. The leadership ballot was called this month after Charles Kennedy admitted to a drinking problem. Foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell, party president Simon Hughes, and economics spokesman Chris Huhne are running.
On Jan. 25, Cameron and Blair participated in a heated exchange in the House of Commons. The Tory leader declared, "I love these lectures on consistency from the prime minister. His first act as prime minister was to abolish grant-maintained schools, and the last act as prime minister will be to bring them back." The prime minister replied, "Let me point out some of the things (Cameron) has been changing his mind within in the past few weeks, not the last few months. The patient passport, foundations hospitals. Shall I go on?"
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?
Jan. 2006 | Dec. 2005 | Nov. 2005 | |
Labour | 39% | 31% | 42% |
Conservative | 39% | 40% | 32% |
Liberal Democrats | 15% | 21% | 19% |
Green Party | 3% | 3% | 2% |
Scottish National Party / | 2% | 4% | 2% |
UK Independence Party | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Other | 2% | -- | 1% |
Source: Ipsos-MORI
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,001 British adults, conducted from Jan. 12 to Jan. 17, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
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