Stephen Tall

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Miliband surges to -43%, best rating yet among Lib Dems

LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?
(Results in March in brackets)

1% – Very well
25% – Well
Total well = 26% (7%)
51% – Badly
18% – Very badly
Total badly = 69% (91)%
6% – Don’t know / No opinion

Ed Miliband’s ratings are on the up, and some, according to our sample of party members. In March, a whopping 91% of Lib Dems said he was doing badly as Labour leader, with only 7% having a positive view. But now a combination of factors — the Government’s omnishambles, Labour’s good local election performance, the uncharismatic socialist François Hollande’s victory in the French presidential election, the UK’s continuing economic woes — have converged to make the prospect of Ed Miliband as prime minister if not likely at least a little less implausible. For the record, his net negative rating of -43% is his best score yet among Lib Dem members.

Cameron plunges to -18%, lowest rating yet

Do you think David Cameron is doing well or badly as Prime Minister?
(Results in March in brackets)

1% – Very well
38% – Well
Total well = 39% (58%)
46% – Badly
11% – Very badly
Total badly = 57% (36%)
4% – Don’t know / No opinion

For the first time since we’ve started polling Lib Dem members’ views on the other party leaders, David Cameron is into the negative zone. Just three months ago, more Lib Dems were impressed with Mr Cameron as PM than were unimpressed by a margin of 58% to 36%, a net satisfaction rating of +22%. Since then, though, his smooth image and reputation for competence have taken a battering, and the position today is almost a mirror image: Lib Dems now think he’s doing badly by a margin of 57% to 39%, a net -18% reckoning David Cameron is doing a bad job as Prime Minister.

And as I customarily note, rating David Cameron’s performance as Prime Minister is a different question from rating his performance as Conservative party leader (whether Mr Cameron’s ratings would be higher or lower among Lib Dem members if we asked that question, I don’t know).

* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.