April 19, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain express dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in their country, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 70 per cent of respondents think Britain is going off in the wrong direction, up three points since 2007.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Britain express dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in their country, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 70 per cent of respondents think Britain is going off in the wrong direction, up three points since 2007.

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 Apr. 16, during a visit to the United States, Brown vowed to work towards strengthening bilateral ties, saying, "I’m very pro-American, and I’ve always been so. (...) Ours is a very special relationship. I feel that America and Britain can achieve so much in the next few years."

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

Would you say that Britain is on the right track at the moment, or do you think the country is going off in the wrong direction?

	2008	2007
Right track	24%	18%
Wrong direction	70%	67%

Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,502 British adults, conducted from Apr. 4 to Apr. 6, 2008. No margin of error was provided.