The coalition: two years in

As the coalition celebrates its second birthday, it seems as good a time as any to take a look at how it’s doing in the eyes of the public. First, here’s how the government’s approval rating — as measured by YouGov — has changed since its formation:

As you can see, the coalition took office with reasonably good ratings, but the first ten months or so — which included the Comprehensive Spending Review and the tuition fees vote — saw public opinion turn against it. For the rest of 2011, the ratings stayed fairly flat, with the government neither regaining ground with the public nor losing any more — and there was even a slight bump in popularity in early December, following David Cameron’s EU ‘veto’. But then came 2012 — with stories of a double-dip, granny tax, pasty tax and charity tax — and the coalition’s unpopularity deepened even further.

And what has this meant for the two parties involved? Well, at the 2010 election, the Tories won 36 per cent of the vote, beating Labour by seven points.