Britons think another Coalition is likely after next year's election, but still feel that this will be bad for Britain

Ipsos Political Monitor Dec 14 - Britons' attitudes to the Coalition and future hung parliaments

 Britons are becoming more convinced that another Coalition government after next year’s election is likely, new polling from Ipsos reveals.

Over six in ten (63%) think such an outcome is likely, with a quarter (25%) thinking it very likely and 38% thinking it fairly likely. In contrast, just a third (32%) think another Coalition unlikely (12% very unlikely, 20% fairly unlikely). Expectations of a coalition have risen since the start of the year - in January 51% thought a coalition likely.

However, two-thirds (65%) think no party winning a majority next year would be a bad thing (28% hold the opposite view and think this would be a good thing).The British public remain as unconvinced about the benefits of this sort of election outcome as at the start of 2014. A similar proportion in January thought a hung parliament outcome would be a bad thing (65%), with 26% holding an opposite view. Liberal Democrat supporters are the most optimistic about the prospect of another hung parliament, 53% think it will be a good thing, compared to a fifth of Conservative voters and 27% of Labour supporters.

When it comes to attitudes towards the current coalition, the British public also remain unconvinced. The majority (56%) think that no party winning a majority in 2010 was a bad thing, with 37% holding the opposite view. However, this is down slightly on January 2014 (60% bad thing, 32% good thing). Although this is worse than the honeymoon period in May 2010 when 40% thought the outcome would be good for the country.

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos said:

"'As the year ends, the prospect of another coalition is growing more likely in voters' minds - a reflection of the historically low levels of support they are giving the main parties, even while the same voters maintain they don't like the idea of coalitions. There are differences even within the current coalition too - Liberal Democrats are over twice as likely as Conservative voters to think another Coalition is what Britain needs."

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Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,012 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 13-15 December 2014.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

 

 

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