The honeymoon is over

Posted on: 20 July 2010

Actually, it was never that ardent in the first place. Many voters withheld their judgement. But now, views are hardening up; and while more people still approve than disapprove of the Government’s performance, the gap has narrowed sharply in recent weeks. The contrast with 1997, when Tony Bl… Read Full Article …

Why Nick Clegg needs Labour’s support

Posted on: 05 July 2010

I should start with a confession. I am not neutral. I first wrote in favour of the Alternative Vote (AV) three decades ago. I advocated it in evidence to the Jenkins Commission on voting systems in the late Nineties. I am delighted it has climbed so high on the political agenda. I want the coming re… Read Full Article …

Tough, fair – and popular

Posted on: 24 June 2010

If George Osborne, David Cameron and Nick Clegg were worried that the public would hate this week’s Budget, they can relax. The first post-Budget poll, conducted by YouGov for the Sun, finds that most voters are willing to take the medicine. Indeed, compared with just before the Budget, more p… Read Full Article …

Gaza blockade: Israel fails to convince the British

Posted on: 02 June 2010

Few Britons support the actions of Israeli troops against a flotilla of ships heading for Gaza. Fort three years Israel has operated a blockade to prevent ships reaching Gaza’s Mediterranean ports in order to prevent rockets and other weapons reaching the Hamas-controlled territory. On Monday,… Read Full Article …

Is there really a progressive majority?

Posted on: 14 May 2010

If you discussed the election with me just before polling day, you will be able to verify my claim; otherwise you will have to take my word for it. I told friends and colleagues that my biggest fear as a pollster was that we would overstate Liberal Democrat support. I suspected that some people said… Read Full Article …

Rise of the small parties shackles the big beasts

Posted on: 10 May 2010

Welcome to the messy world of agonising, late-night post-election negotiations. They are here to stay. The days of clear-cut election results and the Friday victory speeches from the steps of Downing Street may be over, or at least unusual. In past decades, the scale of the Conservative victory &nd… Read Full Article …

Why it’s an uphill battle for the Conservatives

Posted on: 26 April 2010

If you want to see why the Conservatives will find it so hard to achieve outright victory next week, consider the fates of two MPs at the last election. Five years ago, Diana Johnson won Hull North for Labour, with 52% of the vote.  One hundred miles to the west, across the Pennines, Nigel Evan… Read Full Article …

A close-run thing

Posted on: 23 April 2010

The second leaders’ debate on TV was much closer than the first. YouGov’s instant poll of viewers for the Sun found that David Cameron (up 7 points since last week to 36%) edged ahead of Nick Clegg (down 19 to 32%). Gordon Brown came third, but achieved the biggest gain: 29% thought he p… Read Full Article …

Could the Lib Dems win outright?

Posted on: 20 April 2010

Such are the uncertainties of this election campaign, following last Thursday’s TV debate, that it is no longer outlandish to ask whether Nick Clegg could end up as Prime Minister. The answer is probably no – I’d put the odds at 10-1 against – but longer-odds horses have won… Read Full Article …

Clegg’s bandwagon continues to roll

Posted on: 19 April 2010

Something extraordinary is happening. Our latest survey for the Sun shows Labour down to its lowest share for six months - and the Tories at their lowest since Gordon Brown's electoral honeymoon in 2007. This poll is the first full survey since Saturday morning, when the Sun reported YouGov’s… Read Full Article …