Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, December 09, 2010

With power comes unpopularity

The British coalition runs the government, but the opposition Labour Party is more popular.

Opposition Labour Extends Advantage Over Tories in Britain

The approval rating for David Cameron and Nick Clegg fell markedly since late October.

Two-in-five voters in Britain are ready to support the opposition Labour Party in the next general election, and the approval rating for the two main players in the Coalition Government took a noticeable drop, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,004 British adults, 40 per cent of decided voters and leaners (+3 since late October) say they would support the Labour candidate in their constituency in the next General Election...
The approval rating for Prime Minister David Cameron stands at 44 per cent this month. Since the start of the Coalition Government in May, Cameron has dropped ten points in this indicator.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s approval rating fell to 36 per cent. In seven months, the disapproval rating for Clegg has doubled (from 26% in May to 53% in November).

One third of respondents (33%) approve of the way Ed Miliband is handling his job as Leader of the Opposition, while 37 per cent disapprove...