March 03, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party remains on top, according to a poll by Communicate Research published in The Independent. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, while 30 per cent would back the governing Labour party.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party remains on top, according to a poll by Communicate Research published in The Independent. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, while 30 per cent would back the governing Labour party.

The Liberal Democrats are third with 17 per cent—up one point in two months—and 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.

Last month, House of Commons speaker Michael Martin was the subject of several media reports accusing him and his wife of misuse of parliamentary allowances. Although no one formally accused him of doing anything illegal, some politicians—including former independent legislator Martin Bell—called for Martin’s resignation.

On Feb. 28, Clegg said Martin was being the subject of a "witch hunt" by the media. Brown also stood by him, saying, "As far as his work as speaker is concerned, I think most people know that Michael Martin has been and is a very, very good speaker."

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

What party would you vote for in the next general election?

	Feb. 2008	Dec. 2007	Nov. 2007
Conservative	41%	41%	40%
Labour	30%	30%	27%
Liberal Democrat	17%	16%	18%
Other	12%	13%	15%

Source: Communicate Research / The Independent
Methodology: Interviews with 1,010 British adults, conducted from Feb. 22 to Feb. 24, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.