Conservatives are happier with the direction of their party than Labour and Liberal Democrats

Ipsos’s latest poll shows that Conservative supporters are happier with the direction of their party than Labour or Liberal Democrat supporters are with their parties. This comes on the back of Ipsos’s September Political Monitor which showed a three point Labour lead over the Conservatives, down from ten points in August. This new poll also suggests Conservative supporters are more attracted to their party because of the leader than Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters, for whom what the party stands for is relatively more important.  

Around eight in ten (78%) Conservatives say they believe the party, under David Cameron’s leadership, is moving in the right direction, just 14% believe it is going in the wrong direction. This compares with six in ten (59%) Labour supporters who feel that Ed Miliband’s party is heading in the right direction and 32% who fear it is going in the wrong direction.

Liberal Democrat supporters are also worried. Half (51%) of people who say they would vote for the Liberal Democrats believe the party is heading in the right direction and 45% fear it is going the opposite way.

Eight in ten UKIP (81%) supporters are happy with the way the party is going under Nigel Farage and just 4% believe it is moving in the wrong direction.

The poll also shows that the leader is a bigger draw to the party for Conservative supporters than for either of the other two main parties. Indeed, for Conservatives, a belief that David Cameron would make the best Prime Minister is as important in deciding to vote for them as a belief in what the party stands for.

Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters, on the other hand, are at least twice as likely to say they are attracted by what the party stands for than by the party’s leader.

All those who said they would vote for a party were asked whether the most important reasons for choosing that party were agreeing with their policies, believing in what the party stands for, thinking their leader would make the best Prime Minister or not liking any of the other parties. Voters for all parties said that the policies were important, but there are differences on other factors.

• Around two thirds (64%) of Conservatives say they vote for the party because they believe David Cameron would make the best Prime Minister, or because they believe in what the party stands for (67%). 77% say they vote for the Conservative Party because they agree with their policies while 43% do so because they do not like other parties.
• Around eight in ten (83%) of Labour supporters say they would vote for the party because they believe in what it stands for, while just 37% would vote Labour because they think Mr Miliband would make the best Prime Minister. 75% say it is because they agree with the party’s policies and 41% because they don’t like other parties.
• Liberal Democrats are most strongly attracted by the policies (87%) and what the party stands for (88%) while just 36% say it is because of the leader and half (48%) because they do not like the other parties.
• UKIP supporters are also more attracted by the policies (80%) and values (79%) of the party than the leader (53%). However, in line with findings that show UKIP supporters to be particularly dissatisfied with other political leaders and parties, over half also say they are voting for UKIP because they do not like the other parties (56%).

This poll also suggests that there is still scope for tactical voting between the parties at an election. When asked what other party they would vote for if they had to, 33% of Conservatives said they would for the Liberal Democrats as did 30% of Labour supporters. Around a quarter of Conservative voters (23%) say they would vote for UKIP, while 37% of UKIP voters say they would vote for the Conservatives.

Liberal Democrat supporters meanwhile are the least likely to say they would not vote for another party at all (5% compared with 17% of Conservatives, 22% of Labour supporters and 16% of UKIP supporters). Liberal Democrats are evenly split between voting for the Conservatives (30%) and Labour (31%) as their second choice.

Meanwhile, there is also potential overlap between other parties. One in eight (12%) Labour and Liberal Democrats (13%) would vote for the Green Party if they had to, while 14% of Labour voters would think about voting for the Conservatives if they had to, the same as the 13% of Conservatives who would vote Labour.  

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos said:

“It’s fascinating to see how the political triangle of leaders, parties and policies plays out for the different camps.  For Conservatives, David Cameron is as much of a magnet as the party, but as many voters say they support Labour and the LibDems out of dislike for the other parties than because they like their leader.”

• Download topline results (PDF)
• Download the charts (PDF)
• Download the full computer tables (PDF)

Technical Note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 7th – 9th September 2013. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.