Conservative Leader Image

People's perceptions of Conservative leaders.

Q Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various politicians. I would like you to pick out all those statements that you feel fit Mrs Thatcher / Mr Major / Mr Hague / Mr Duncan Smith / Mr Howard / Mr Cameron.

(List did not include all descriptions in all surveys before 1985, and "Trustworthy", "Dictatorial" or "Talks a lot of sense" were added in some surveys, as indicated in the tables.)

Abbreviations: rollover each abbreviation for the full title.

Base: c. 1,000 – 2,000 British adults 18+

 

Mrs Thatcher

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Ext Per Ine Out Tru Any Sin
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Sep 1978 25 - - 31 13 - - 18 20 32 27 29 23 27 - 31 24
Apr 1979 26 - - 31 13 - - 21 24 34 26 30 28 25 - 29 30
General Election 3 May 1979
Jun 1981 28 - - 42 21 - - 24 15 27 - 24 9 43 - - -
May 1982 44 47 28 39 17 22 25 29 18 38 - 24 7 42 19 - -
Jan 1983 44 46 24 43 19 25 24 26 18 35 - 27 6 47 18 - -
Apr 1983 56 57 37 53 24 31 34 30 18 40 - 47 5 47 24 - -
May 1983 62 62 47 54 26 32 40 30 22 47 - 41 4 49 29 - -
General Election 9 June 1983
  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out Tru Dic Tal
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Sep 1983 49 46 27 45 20 28 26 25 - 33 - 31 5 51 18 - -
Nov 1983 43 38 28 38 20 22 20 16 - 28 38 23 4 36 17 - 28
Mar 1984 42 38 29 49 28 32 23 16 - 26 38 25 7 44 - 44 28
Feb 1985 34 35 20 47 27 31 16 14 11 21 29 20 4 51 - - -
Oct 1985 39 33 20 49 24 29 15 11 8 18 30 19 2 49 - - -
Jan 1987 35 31 20 46 23 30 15 10 8 20 26 17 2 49 - - -
Apr 1987 40 35 29 40 20 24 20 11 10 25 30 24 1 42 - - -
May 1987 59 54 45 59 30 34 37 21 19 40 53 39 4 54 - - -
Jun 1987 59 55 46 61 33 35 36 22 18 40 54 39 3 53 - - -
General Election 11 June 1987
  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Oct 1987 46 40 31 47 20 25 27 20 16 32 37 26 3 46
Jan 1988 46 40 31 50 25 28 23 16 11 26 34 26 2 50
Oct 1988 51 40 31 51 25 29 24 16 13 28 37 27 2 54
Mar 1989 45 39 31 56 26 30 23 15 11 27 36 26 2 55
Sep 1989 43 40 32 55 27 33 21 16 12 25 37 28 2 55
Feb 1990 34 30 23 55 32 37 14 14 8 20 31 23 2 62
Sep 1990 39 40 27 56 31 35 17 11 8 22 35 24 3 63

Mr Major

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Feb 1991 44 38 30 6 6 6 27 32 33 39 29 17 30 13
Sep 1991 40 33 38 11 10 10 25 33 28 34 25 17 29 23
Feb 1992 36 23 30 15 14 14 23 30 23 33 29 14 22 27
18-19 Mar 1992 52 39 51 16 19 15 33 39 35 42 50 24 28 33
1-2 Apr 1992 47 35 47 21 22 18 33 33 29 42 48 19 24 35
General Election 9 April 1992
  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Jul 1992 35 20 24 11 13 11 17 28 22 26 25 12 18 28
Sep 1992 25 16 25 16 17 18 12 29 18 21 26 9 29 32
Feb 1993 19 12 21 20 20 20 11 25 15 21 24 9 31 42
Mar 1993 17 10 20 20 21 20 8 20 14 21 23 7 32 46
Jul 1993 11 7 16 18 22 25 6 22 11 17 19 5 37 50
Feb 1994 11 7 17 21 24 23 7 20 12 17 22 5 33 51
Sep 1994 14 9 17 23 25 22 8 20 11 16 22 5 19 51
Feb 1995 11 6 13 24 25 21 6 19 10 14 20 4 18 55
Sep 1995 17 11 20 19 23 19 8 23 13 20 23 5 14 50
Feb 1996 14 10 18 22 22 19 8 18 11 18 21 5 11 51
Oct 1996 19 11 19 18 21 19 11 21 16 21 27 5 9 47
Mar 1997 22 14 24 21 22 19 11 21 13 27 26 6 6 47
General Election 1 May 1997

Mr Hague

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Oct 1997 9 3 6 21 16 9 5 9 8 10 18 5 52 29
Apr 1998 11 3 9 20 15 9 8 11 10 14 22 5 46 30
Oct 1998 10 3 9 23 20 13 5 11 7 12 23 4 47 36
Apr 1999 10 3 9 20 18 12 6 12 8 11 21 5 46 34
Oct 1999 12 4 9 21 21 14 6 11 11 16 25 6 38 35
Apr 2000 11 4 9 23 21 16 7 11 10 14 25 5 35 32
Sep 2000 11 3 9 23 23 13 8 9 9 14 20 5 39 28
Apr 2001 12 6 10 23 24 13 5 11 12 17 21 5 33 28
General Election 7 June 2001

Mr Duncan Smith

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Nov 2001 10 4 6 7 7 6 7 8 9 9 15 3 31 10
Sep 2003 9 3 9 12 14 8 7 11 8 13 22 3 34 24

Mr Howard

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Sep 2004 15 5 10 17 13 9 9 7 6 17 19 7 13 22
Apr 2005 18 5 12 22 22 12 9 9 7 21 22 6 10 30
General Election 5 May 2005

Mr Cameron

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out Sub  Vis
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Sep 2006 17 3 12 7 6 4 9 12 14 16 14 19 37 14 N/A  N/A
May 2010 28 9 17 12 6 5 13 14 12 33 22 24 22 21  N/A  N/A
 Sep 2013 53  47  N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A  40 N/A  N/A   50 N/A  40 N/A  70  43  N/A
 Sep 2014 55 53 N/A N/A N/A N/A 43 N/A  N/A 48  N/A 39 N/A 67  52 55
 April 2015  57  51  N/A N/A  N/A N/A   44 N/A
N/A		 47 N/A 40 N/A 65 44 56
 Sep 2015 62  51  N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A  46  30   N/A 51  76  41  N/A  64  45  56 

Ms May

  Cap Cri Wor Tlk Nar Inf Jud Hon Ear Bri Pat Per Ine Out Sub Vis
  % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
Sep 2016 68 52 N/A N/A N/A N/A 56 44 N/A 61 75 37 N/A 43 25 55

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