Have the Tories benefited from Labour’s week of misery? In Lord Ashcroft’s latest national poll, the Conservatives are now three points ahead of Labour — up from 30 per cent in last week’s poll. The Green Party are down to six per cent, the Lib Dems are up slightly to nine per cent and Ukip are down one point to 14 per cent. See the chart above for how the voting preferences have changed in Ashcroft’s polls this year.
David Cameron personally continues to do well: nearly 60 per cent would prefer him as Prime Minister to Ed Miliband. When considering why either leader would do a better job, a majority said Cameron is better at representing Britain at an international level, making the right decisions, being able to lead a team, having a clear idea of what he wants to do as well as the overall role being PM. Only on ‘understanding ordinary people’ does Ed Miliband have a lead.
As well as polling the country, Ashcroft has conducted focus groups in Ramsgate and Bury. In these groups, he asked what were the biggest reservations about voting for each party. For the Greens and Ukip, the main concern voters felt were that ‘they’re both about posing the idea rather than getting into government’. Some Ukippers also mentioned they were hesitant about policies ‘they don’t voice, like cutting maternity leave’. Voters also fear that both the Greens and Ukip might harbour unsavoury factions.
For the Lib Dems, some felt ‘you get the feeling they’re finished’. Ed Miliband is seen as one of the main reservations about Labour, as well as the feeling ‘they would go back to how they were before – spend, spend, spend.’ The main concern for the Tories is an old one: ‘they’re more interested in the shareholders than the workers’.
Most importantly, Ashcroft asked his focus groups which beverage each of the party leaders would be. David Cameron would be a good red wine, ‘full bodied, decent percentage’, a G&T or a Vesper martini. Nick Clegg would be a Babycham or a Woo-Woo. Poor Ed Miliband would be a Crème de Menthe, a non-alcoholic beer or a tomato juice. Maybe this perception explains why his shadow chancellor has never seen Ed in the pub.
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