Poll Archive
Conference Poll
Fieldwork: September 8th 2006 - September 10th 2006
published by The Times
The Political Spectrum
Journalists often discuss politics on the basis of a left-right political spectrum and talk about politicians being on the left or on the right, or being left wing or right wing. Thinking about your own political views, roughly where do you think you are on the left-right political spectrum on a 10-point scale where 10 means very right wing, and 5 means exactly in the centre? And on the same scale where would you put the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats? And where would you put Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Menzies Campbell on the scale?
Table shows average position among all voters:
| LEFT | CENTRE | RIGHT | |||||||||||
| 0 | Lib Dem party | Menzies Campbell | Gordon Brown | Labour Party | 5 | Women | Average Voter | Tony Blair | Men | David Cameron | Conservative party | 10 | |
| 4.6 | 4.82 | 4.85 | 4.97 | 5.14 | 5.27 | 5.29 | 5.41 | 6.00 | 6.09 |
Characteristics of the Parties
[Change on last year's pre-conference poll in brackets where applicable]
| Characteristics of the parties (% saying TRUE) | Labour | Conservative | Lib Dem |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understands the way people live their lives in today's Britain | 35% (-7%) | 35% (+2%) | 43% (-12%) |
| Has a good team of leaders | 31% (-22%) | 41% (+21%) | 32% (-20%) |
| Shares my values | 30% (-9%) | 38% (+3%) | 38% (-12%) |
| Is honest and principled | 23% (-8%) | 31% (-3%) | 41% (-11%) |
| Is competent and capable | 36% (-15%) | 41% (+5%) | 32% (-14%) |
| Cares about the problems ordinary people have to deal with | 40% (-5%) | 36% (+2%) | 50% (-7%) |
| Is for the many, not just the few | 47% | 34% | 49% |
| Is a united party | 14% (-32%) | 49% (+21%) | 46% (-25%) |
Best Party on Key Issues
| Labour | Conservative | Lib Dem | None of them | Net Labour lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improving the National Health Service | 27% | 29% | 23% | 13% | -2% |
| Manage Britain's economy well in bad times as well as good | 42% | 35% | 7% | 9% | 7% |
| Improving standards in schools | 31% | 33% | 19% | 11% | -2% |
| Getting the right balance between taxes and public spending | 27% | 30% | 19% | 14% | -3% |
| Supporting hard-working families | 34% | 26% | 19% | 13% | 8% |
| Dealing effectively with crime and anti-social behaviour | 23% | 39% | 11% | 20% | -16% |
| Tackling the problem of global warming | 21% | 20% | 29% | 18% | -8% |
| Representing Britain's best interests in the EU and on the international stage | 29% | 36% | 11% | 13% | -7% |
Preference of Government
| All voters | Feb-04 | May-04 | Sep-04 | Jan-05 | Mar-05 | Apr-05 | Apr-05 | May-05 | Jan-06 | May-06 | Sep-06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am satisfied with the Labour Government overall | 19% | 19% | 19% | 25% | 20% | 22% | 24% | 27% | 26% | 16% | 16% |
| I am disappointed in the Labour Govt. overall, but I still prefer them to a Conservative Govt. | 41% | 39% | 41% | 32% | 34% | 33% | 33% | 34% | 33% | 34% | 35% |
| I am disappointed in the Labour Govt. overall and I would rather have a Conservative Govt. | 36% | 35% | 34% | 32% | 32% | 32% | 29% | 28% | 28% | 37% | 43 |
Statements About Labour
[Change on last year's pre-conference poll in brackets where applicable]
| STATEMENTS ABOUT LABOUR (% AGREEING) | All voters | Labour voters | All non-Labour voters | Tory voters | Lib Dem voters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If Gordon Brown takes over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister the government's policies would significantly change | 46% (-6%) | 44% (-8%) | 47% (-6%) | 49% (-12%) | 45% (-9%) |
| Labour has really changed from its old Labour past and won't go back even when Tony Blair retires | 68% (-2%) | 73% (+7%) | 66% (-5%) | 64% (-9%) | 73% (-2%) |
| Labour will be more attractive to me once Tony Blair has gone | 35% (-3%) | 31% (-) | 36% (-5%) | 29% (-14%) | 49% (+2%) |
| If Labour are to regain the trust of the voters, the successor to Tony Blair will need to be someone much less associated with the government's failings over the years than Gordon Brown is | 66% | 53% | 69% | 74% | 68% |
| STATEMENTS ABOUT LABOUR (NET: Agree minus Disagree) | All voters | Labour voters | All non-Labour voters | Tory voters | Lib Dem voters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister the government's policies would significantly change | -1% (-9%) | -8% (-15%) | 0% (-10%) | +2% (-23%) | -7% (-17%) |
| Labour has really changed from its old Labour past and won't go back even when Tony Blair retires | +42% (-1%) | +48% (+13%) | +40% (-7%) | +31% (-17%) | +53% (-) |
| Labour will be more attractive to me once Tony Blair has gone | -24% (-3%) | -33% (+2%) | -22% (-7%) | -38% (-27%) | 1% (+4%) |
| If Labour are to regain the trust of the voters, the successor to Tony Blair will need to be someone much less associated with the government's failings over the years than Gordon Brown is | +38% | +12% | +44% | +51% | +39% |
Tony Blair's Legacy
[Change since 2005 conference poll in brackets]
| HOW WILL TONY BLAIR GO DOWN IN HISTORY? | All | Labour | All non-Labour | Tory | Lib Dem |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A great Prime Minister | 6% (-) | 15% (-1%) | 4% (+2%) | 2% (+1%) | 4% (-) |
| A good Prime Minister | 38% (-4%) | 64% (+4%) | 32% (-3%) | 27% (+2%) | 42% (-) |
| An average Prime Minister | 36% (-3%) | 17% (-5%) | 40% (-6%) | 44% (-9%) | 36% (-2%) |
| A bad Prime Minister | 18% (+5%) | 3% (+1%) | 21% (+4%) | 26% (+5%) | 17% (+1%) |
Thinking back to when Labour first came to power in 1997 and the various things that they set out to do for the country then, would you say that as a result of the things they've done Britain has changed for the better, for the worse, or not really changed at all?
[Change since 2005 conference poll in brackets]
| BECAUSE OF WHAT LABOUR HAS DONE SINCE 1997, BRITAIN HAS… | All | Labour | All non-Labour | Tory | Lib Dem |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| …changed significantly for the better | 12% (-) | 35% (+4%) | 7% (+3%) | 2% (+1%) | 9% (+6%) |
| …changed a little for the better | 34% (-1%) | 51% (+7%) | 31% (-) | 22% (+1%) | 43% (+3%) |
| Total 'changed for the better' | 46% (-1%) | 86% (+11%) | 38% (+3%) | 24% (+2%) | 52% (+9%) |
| …not really changed at all | 11% (-8%) | 3% (-12%) | 13% (-7%) | 13% (-7%) | 11% (-11%) |
| …changed a little for the worse | 17% (-1%) | 7% (-) | 19% (-4%) | 24% (-3%) | 17% (-5%) |
| …changed significantly for the worse | 24% (+8%) | 2% (-1%) | 29% (+8%) | 37% (+7%) | 18% (+4%) |
| Total 'changed for the worse' | 41% (+7%) | 9% (-1%) | 48% (+4%) | 62% (+5%) | 35% (-1%) |
| Net ('better' minus 'worse') | 5% (-8%) | 77% (+12%) | -10% (-1%) | -38% (-3%) | 17% (+10%) |
Statements About The Liberal Democrats
[Change on last year's pre-conference poll in brackets where applicable]
| STATEMENTS ABOUT LIBERAL DEMOCRATS (% AGREEING) | All voters | All non-Lib Dem voters | Lib Dem voters | Labour voters | Tory voters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| They are basically a protest vote party, because they have no real chance of ever winning | 61% (-3%) | 65% (-3%) | 37% (-2%) | 68% (-) | 73% (-7%) |
| The Lib Dems are now a credible alternative to Labour because of their policies to redistribute wealth and on green issues | 51% | 46% | 83% | 43% | 43% |
| Lib Dems seem decent people but their policies probably don't really add up | 66% (+2%) | 72% (+3%) | 27% (-11%) | 72% (+5%) | 83% (+3%) |
| The Lib Dems made a big mistake in choosing Ming Campbell to replace Charles Kennedy | 47% | 46% | 51% | 53% | 48% |
| STATEMENTS ABOUT LIBERAL DEMOCRATS (NET: Agree minus Disagree) | All voters | All non-Lib Dem voters | Lib Dem voters | Labour voters | Tory voters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| They are basically a protest vote party, because they have no real chance of ever winning | +28% (-3%) | -10% | -16% (+4%) | +40% (+2%) | +48% (-14%) |
| The Lib Dems are now a credible alternative to Labour because of their policies to redistribute wealth and on green issues | +9% | 0% | +67% | -8% | -11% |
| Lib Dems seem decent people but their policies probably don't really add up | +39% +7%) | +52% (+10%) | -42% (-18%) | +50% (+12%) | +68% (+5%) |
| The Lib Dems made a big mistake in choosing Ming Campbell to replace Charles Kennedy | +10% | +8% | +6% | +21% | +6% |
©2009 All text copyright Populus Limited