Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron
by Stephen Tall on October 11, 2012
>Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.
Miliband slips from -20% to -48% (but note the caveats below)
LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?
(Comparison with August’s results in brackets.)
- 1% (-1%) – Very well
- 22% (-14%) – Well
- 50% (+4%) – Badly
- 21% (+9%) – Very badly
- 6% (+2%) – Don’t know / No opinion
Total well = 23% (-15%)
Total badly = 71% (+13%)%
First important point to note: our survey was conducted before the Labour conference and Ed Miliband’s well-received conference speech. Second important point to note: though the figures show Ed Miliband’s ratings among Lib Dem members markedly down that’s compared to August — it may simply be a case that our survey at the height of the summer holidays, which was very positive for Miliband, was a blip. As with all the party leaders our first post-conference survey will be interesting to compare to this baseline.
Cameron recovers – slightly – from June’s lowest rating yet
Do you think David Cameron is doing well or badly as Prime Minister?
(Comparison with August’s results in brackets.)
- 1% (n/c) – Very well
- 33% (-8%) – Well
- 50% (+6%) – Badly
- 11% (n/c) – Very badly
- 5% (+3%) – Don’t know / No opinion
Total well = 34% (-8%)
Total badly = 61% (+6%)
For the third successive survey, David Cameron’s net ratings among Lib Dem members is into the negative zone. Back in March, 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 61% to 34%, a net -27% reckoning David Cameron is doing a bad job as Prime Minister. As with Mr Miliband, we’ll have to wait til our next survey to see if his conference speech — liked by Tories which might have the opposite effect on Lib Dems — boosts his standing in our next survey.
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.
7 comments
New from me > Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/BEptsITu
by Stephen Tall on October 11, 2012 at 7:34 am. #
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by Stephen Tall on October 11, 2012 at 8:34 am. #
New from me > Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/HLFrGnTa
by Stephen Tall on October 11, 2012 at 10:35 am. #
RT @stephentall New from me > Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/h4zBKOt0
by HouseofTwitsLib on October 11, 2012 at 10:45 am. #
Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/zDQ1qs7N
by BexhillBattleLibDems on October 11, 2012 at 12:34 pm. #
New from me > Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/WOMfXHnH
by Stephen Tall on October 11, 2012 at 1:35 pm. #
RT @stephentall New from me > Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron http://t.co/ukjPBrWW
by HouseofTwitsLib on October 11, 2012 at 1:45 pm. #