King Ken
Kenneth Clarke, the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer is considered to be the most impressive parliamentarian in winter 1996. He is nominated by Members from both sides of the House (46% Conservative and 35% Opposition) on the twice yearly survey by MORI of MPs.
This is the first time a Conservative has won this accolade since the winter 1993 survey and Labour politicians have topped the poll in the five previous studies. It is all the more interesting as interviewing took place over the period of the last Budget, when his profile was particularly high.
Robin Cook, the overall winner in summer 1996, is pushed into second place, although he is the first choice for Opposition MPs (57% selected him). Tony Blair is nominated by one in four MPs overall and John Major by one in five.
Interviewing was conducted among around 100 MPs between 19 November 1996 - 13 January 1997. The survey also found the Child Support Agency (CSA) to be the main subject of correspondence received by MPs, followed by housing and social security (especially to Labour MPs) and law and order (mainly to Conservatives).
There has been a significant increase in the number of letter MPs receive on Europe over the past year, mainly to Conservatives, while the proportion of letters on BSE and dangerous weapons has also gone up.
Technical details
The next MORI survey among Members of the next Parliament will take place in June and July 1997. In addition, we will be conducting a booster sample of 50 new Members.
