General Election 2001 : Comparing The Parties
The answers to three questions included on the MORI survey being published in The Times tomorrow reveal a good deal about the public attitudes to the state of the parties, and go some way to explaining the cavernous gap that still exists between the parties (and which, indeed, may even have widened slightly in the last week).
As we did during the 1992 and 1997 campaigns, we asked the public which of the three main parties they thought had the best team of leaders, which had the best policies, and which was most clear and united about its policies.
Q Which political party do you think has the best team of leaders to deal with the country's problems?
| March 1992 | 1 Apr 1997 | 22 Apr 1997 | 15 May 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| Conservative | 40 | 20 | 21 | 13 |
| Labour | 30 | 40 | 34 | 47 |
| Liberal Democrat | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| None | 10 | 14 | 16 | 13 |
| Don't know | 11 | 19 | 19 | 20 |
Q Which political party do you think has the best policies for the country as a whole?
| March 1992 | 1 Apr 1997 | 22 Apr 1997 | 15 May 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| Conservative | 31 | 18 | 20 | 17 |
| Labour | 33 | 40 | 36 | 42 |
| Liberal Democrat | 13 | 8 | 13 | 11 |
| Other | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| None | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Don't know | 14 | 23 | 20 | 18 |
Q Which political party do you think is most clear and united about what its policies should be?
| March 1992 | 1 Apr 1997 | 22 Apr 1997 | 15 May 2001 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| Conservative | 35 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| Labour | 28 | 37 | 34 | 40 |
| Liberal Democrat | 13 | 14 | 22 | 16 |
| Other | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| None | 9 | 16 | 14 | 15 |
| Don't know | 13 | 18 | 17 | 18 |
Source: MORI/The Times
The shift even since 1997 on best team of leaders has been dramatic. Of course, this partly reflects the advantage of being in government -- it is easier for cabinet ministers than members of the shadow cabinet to convince the public of their merits. But the present shadow cabinet, with the exceptions of Mr Hague himself, Mr Portillo and Miss Widdecombe, have had an unusually low profile, and the ratio of Labour's lead has doubled between 1999 and 2001.
Further, even fewer of the public think that Tory policies would be best for the country than thought so four years ago. And, although it almost beggars belief that any party could give a worse impression of not being clear and united on its policies than were John Major's Tories in 1997, the Conservatives' rating has fallen on that question as well.
Less than half even of those who intend to vote Tory, 46%, think the Tories have the best team of leaders; only 2% of Labour supporters and 4% of Lib Dems agree. It is clear, also, that the leadership question is related to the softness of the Tory vote: while 58% of those who say they have definitely decided to vote Conservative think the party has the best team of leaders, among those who say they intend to vote Conservative but might change their minds, only 21% back Mr Hague and his team while 23% prefer Tony Blair & co. Compare this with 1997, when 76% of those who definitely intended to vote Conservative, and 48% of those who thought they might change their mind, thought that the Conservatives had the best team of leaders.
On the other hand, a third of these wavering Conservatives, 34%, think the Conservatives have the best policies for the country as a whole, while only 15% back each of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. But there is not much chance of staging a late Tory revival on these grounds, as only 5% of Labour's waverers think the Tories policies are best, compared to 62% who prefer Labour's.
