Brown slumps further in the polls
By Jonathan Moore
Gordon Brown has slipped further behind in marginal seats in the last quarter, a poll revealed today.
A YouGov poll of key marginal constituencies gave Labour a 36 percent share of the vote, down two points from October.
The Conservatives polled 43 percent, the same as the last poll, extending their lead over Labour to seven points.
The Liberal Democrats were the only party to gain support, with their share up one point from 12 to 13 percent.
Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, said: “That is a useful lead for the Tories, but with the next election possibly 15 months away, their lead is not yet enough for them to say ‘game over’.”
Were these results transferred to a general election, Mr Kellner said the result would be a Conservative victory with a 60-70 seat majority.
This would mirror the 2005 general election where Labour secured a 66-seat majority.
The gap between who voters would choose to see them through the current financial crises and who they would like to see in charge after the next election has narrowed.
In October, 41 percent said they would like to see Mr Brown in charge at present but only 26 percent saw him as the best person following an election.
David Cameron’s figures were 27 percent and 36 percent respectively.
Only 34 percent now see Mr Brown as the best to see us out of the current crises and 28 percent would prefer Mr Cameron.
Conversely, 27 percent now see Brown as the best post-election PM while Mr Cameron’s support has dropped two points to 34 percent.
The poll also “offers crumbs of comfort” for both David Cameron and the prime minister, said Mr Kellner.
Of those polled, 70 percent said the fault for the current crises lay outside our borders with less than a quarter blaming the government.
On top of which 53 percent said Mr Cameron was “talking down the economy for political reasons and risks making things worse”.
However, 58 percent of those polled thought Mr Brown was “refusing to acknowledge the depth of the economic crisis,” a figure which will be of great concern to the prime minister.
