1997 General Election Panel Study, Wave 2

• Survey II results based on 941 interviews conducted face-to-face in home throughout Great Britain on 23-24 April 1997
• All respondents interviewed in Survey II  had previously been interviewed in Survey I
• Survey I results based on 1,069 interviews conducted 2-3 April 1997
• Results published in The Independent on Sunday on 27 April 1997
• Data weighted to known population profile, and Survey II respondents weighted to profile of Survey I to correct for panel attrition
• An asterisk (*) denotes a figure below 0.5%, but not zero

Q1 How do you intend to vote in the General Election on May 1st? (If undecided or refused at Q1) Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support?

Conservative	29%
Labour	53%
Liberal Democrats	12%
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist	2%
Green Party	1%
Referendum Party	3%

An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.

	Survey I April 2-3	Survey II April 23-24
	%	%
Conservative	30	29
Labour	55	53
Lib Dem	9	12
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist	2	2
Green Party	1	1
Referendum Party	3	3
Other	*	*
Would not vote	4	3
Undecided	9	6
Refused	2	4

Q3 Survey I and II - Have you definitely decided to vote for PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2 or is there a chance that you may change your mind before election day?

	Survey I April 2-3	Survey II April 23-24
	%	%
Definitely decided	67	85
May change mind	31	14
Other	1	1
Don't know	1	*

Q4 Which of the following comes closest to your reasons for voting for the PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2?

	Survey I April 2-3	Survey II April 23-24
	%	%
It is the party that most represents your views	82	86
The party you support has little chance of winning in this constituency so you vote for the PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2 to try and keep another party out	11	10
No opinion	7	4

Long term trends on this question

Q5 A lot of people aren't sure whether they'll vote at the General Election. Can you tell me how likely you are to get along to vote at the General Election?

	Survey I April 2-3	Survey II April 23-24
	%	%
Certain to vote	65	75
Very likely to vote	14	10
Quite likely to vote	13	6
Not very likely to vote	4	3
Certain not to vote	3	3
Don't know	1	2

Q6 SURVEY II ONLY - How interested would you say you were in the news about the election?

	%
Very interested	16
Fairly interested	42
Not particularly interested	27
Not at all interested	14
No opinion	1

Long term trends on this question

Q7 How do you feel about the amount of coverage the newspapers have been giving to the election campaign? And how do you feel about the amount of coverage given to the election campaign on television? And how do you feel about the amount of coverage given to the election on the radio?

	Newspapers	Television	Radio
	%	%	%
Much too much	20	29	8
A little too much	21	24	4
About the right amount	41	37	33
A little too little	2	1	3
Much too little	*	1	1
No opinion	16	8	51

Long term trends on this question

Q8 If you thought the Liberal Democrats could win the General Election and form the next government, what effect, if any, would it have on your vote?

	%
It would not change my vote	60
It would make me more inclined to vote Conservative	3
It would make me more inclined to vote Labour	5
It would make me more inclined to vote Liberal Democrat	23
It would make me less inclined to vote for any party	2
Other	1
Don't know	6

Q9 Thinking about BBC television coverage, do you think this is biased towards the Conservatives' point of view, Labour's point of view, or some other party's point of view, or do you feel their coverage is unbiased?

Q10 And thinking about Independent Television coverage, that is ITV and Channel 4, do you think it is biased towards the Conservatives' point of view, or towards Labour's point of view, or some other party's point of view, or do you feel their coverage is unbiased?

	BBC	ITV / Channel 4
	%	%
Biased to Conservative	12	5
Biased to Labour	8	6
Biased to some other party	1	1
Unbiased	54	54
Don't know	25	35

Long term trends on this question

Q11 Over the past 5 years, do you think this government has or has not ...?

	Has Has not
Kept its promises	15% 74%
Played important role in world affairs	54% 33%
Kept inflation down	58% 30%
Reduced unemployment	31% 60%
Cut income tax	42% 42%
Put up taxes on goods you buy	78% 14%
Improved law & order	16% 73%
Helped improve your living standards	23% 69%
Improved standards in public life	18% 67%
Improved the standard of education	16% 70%

Q12 On balance, do you support or oppose each of the following?

	Support	Oppose	Don't know
	%	%	%
Making political parties publish the identity of those who make large financial donations	71	17	12
Changing Britain's current electoral system to a system of proportional representation	45	28	27
Fixing the length of Parliament, so removing the power of Government to choose the date of an election	51	28	21
Replacing the House of Lords with an elected second chamber	44	29	27

Q13 During the past few weeks have you...? Which party was that?

	Con	Lab	Lib Dem	SNP PC	Ref Pty	Other	Yes but DK which party	No not seen any	DK
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Seen any party election broadcasts on TV	59	59	50	9	17	14	3	26	1
Heard any party election broadcasts on the radio	10	10	8	1	2	2	2	79	6
Seen any political advertisements on billboards	53	55	16	3	7	2	4	28	2
Had any political leaflets put through your letterbox	66	75	55	9	30	13	3	9	2
Been called on by a representative of any political party	11	12	5	1	1	1	*	74	1
Been telephoned by a representative of any political party	2	5	*	-	*	*	*	92	1
Attended a political meeting addressed by a candidate	1	1	*	-	*	*	*	97	1
Helped a political party in its campaign	1	2	*	-	1	-	*	95	1
Received a letter signed by a party leader individually addressed to you	10	9	3	1	*	*	1	77	3
Watched the leaders debate on TV	30	30	23	4	2	1	2	62	2
Received a video through your letterbox from a political party	*	1	1	*	22	*	2	72	1

Long term trends on this question

Q14 And which of these items, if any, have influenced the way you intend to vote?

	%
Posters on billboards	4
Political leaflets put through letterbox	6
Telephone calls from political parties	-
The views of your local candidates	9
Party election broadcasts	12
Opinion polls	2
Video received from political party	2
The television debate between the party leaders	10
Newspapers	10
Other	4
None of these	61
Don't know	3

Long term trends on this question