September 28, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The governing party in Britain has gained a significant amount of public backing in less than a week, according to a poll by YouGov released by Channel 4. 44 per cent of respondents would back the Labour party of current prime minister Gordon Brown in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points in three days.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The governing party in Britain has gained a significant amount of public backing in less than a week, according to a poll by YouGov released by Channel 4. 44 per cent of respondents would back the Labour party of current prime minister Gordon Brown in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points in three days.

The opposition Conservative party is second with 33 per cent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 13 per cent. Ten per cent of respondents would vote for other parties. Support for the Tories remained stable, while backing for the Lib-Dems fell by three points.

In June, 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.

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. 29 per cent of respondents would like to hold an election by the end of this year, while 39 per cent think there should be a ballot in 2008.

Since December 2005, David Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In March 2006, the Liberal Democrats chose foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell as their new leader.

Brown gave his first speech as prime minister to a Labour party conference on Sept. 24—just before this poll was conducted. In an emotive address, Brown declared: "I will not let you down. I will stand up for our schools and hospitals. (...) I will stand up for a strong Britain." The prime minister also pledged to strengthen the country’s social services and said his administration will place a special focus on the country’s middle class. The Conservative party decried the speech as a "shopping list of reheated ideas and re-announcements."

Polling Data

If there were a general election tomorrow, which party would you vote for?

	Sept. 24	Sept. 21	Sept. 14
Labour	44%	39%	39%
Conservative	33%	33%	34%
Liberal Democrats	13%	16%	15%
Other	10%	12%	12%

When do you think it would it be in Britain’s best interests for an election to be held?

This fall	29%
Next year	39%
In 2009	9%
In 2010	9%
Not sure	15%

Source: YouGov / Channel 4
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,341 British adults, conducted on Sept. 24, 2007. No margin of error was provided.