New Data on Ed Miliband
By I posted a piece on the Milifeud yesterday, and since new data have been released on his relative popularity both in the electorate and in the Labour Party. Suffice it to say, he ain’t, and the writeup at UK Polling report is, as always, quite informative.
A couple excerpts:
“What we can be more confident about is that public perceptions of Ed Miliband are not encouraging (and, of course, that will to some extent be due to the media portrayal of him, but that’s part of the game). Miliband’s approval rating today is down to minus 23, his lowest since becoming leader. Only 19% of people think Labour made the right decision in choosing him as leader, with 51% thinking he was the wrong choice.”
While Labour are leading in the polls, his approval at -23 is not a good thing, regardless of the Labour six point lead. Note, in looking at the crosstabs of the data, I’m seeing a net -19, not -23. Nick Clegg is on -56, and David Cameron only -3. Compared to Cameron, Miliband’s numbers aren’t encouraging, and that he’s sliding, not growing, in stature is also troubling.
More damning that while “responses to questions like this are largely partisan, Conservative and Lib Dem supporters naturally don’t tend to be impressed by the performance of Labour leaders”, it would appear that he finds no solace amongst Labour supporters:
“However, Ed Miliband’s ratings are mediocre even amongst his own party supporters. 41% of Labour voters think he was the wrong choice. 45% of Labour voters think that David Miliband would be a better leader than his brother. Labour voters are evenly split (48% to 47%) on whether Ed is providing an effective opposition, only 43% say they are clear what he stands for (54% not clear), and only 39% of Labour voters think he has a credible policy on the economy (26% do not and 35% are uncertain).”
Of course we can expect Tories to be luke warm towards a Labour leader, even Tony Blair. But his own tribe? I can’t see Labour doing what the Tories did to IDS, but if I were in the party in a position to influence opinion, I’d give him a year at most. Given that Labour have a six point lead in the polls, over half the Liberal Democrat support is up for grabs (and should naturally gravitate to Labour; those pleased with the coalition would remain with the Lib Dems), the net rating of how well the coalition are “working together” is -28%, and worse, -31% on the question “Do you think this coalition government is good or bad for people like you?”, the Leader of the opposition should be both more popular than he is, and at least articulating something . . . anything . . . in response to the Government’s policies.
