MORI Political Monitor March 1997

• Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 27 March 2000.
• MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,932 adults aged 18+ at 173 sampling points across Great Britain.
• Fieldwork was conducted on 21-24 March 1997, and the results published in The Times on 27th March 1997.
• Data weighted to match the profile of the population.
• An asterisk (*) denotes a figure below 0.5%, but not zero.

Q1 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? (If undecided or refused at Q1) Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support? Base: 1,932

Conservative	29%
Labour	50%
Liberal Democrats	14%
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist	3%
Referendum Party	3%
Other	1%
Would not vote	7%
Undecided	10%
Refused	2%

Q3 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the Government is running the country? Q4 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Major is doing his job as Prime Minister? Q5 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Blair is doing his job as leader of the Labour Party? Q6 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Ashdown is doing his job as leader of the Liberal Democrats?

Q7 What would you say is the most important issue facing Britain today? Q8 What do you see as other important issues facing Britain today?

Important Issues over the last 12 months & Long Term Trends

Q9 Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next 12 months? Base: 1,039

Improve	24%
Stay the same	40%
Get worse	23%
Don't know	12%
MORI Economic Optimism Index (EOI)	+1

Q10 Have you definitely decided to vote for the ....PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2, or is there a chance that you may change your mind before the by-election?

Definitely decided	67%
May change mind	30%
Don't know	3%

Q11 If you do change your mind about voting for the ...PARTY NAMED AT Q1/Q2, which party would you vote for instead? Base: 475

Conservative	15%
Labour	26%
Liberal Democrats	25%
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist	3%
Green	1%
Referendum Party	4%
Other	3%
None of these	4%
Don't know	19%

Q12 Can you tell me how likely you are to get along to vote at the General election?

Certain to vote	66%
Very likely to vote	12%
Quite likely to vote	8%
Not very likely to vote	4%
Certain not to vote	8%
Don't know	2%

Q13 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 ... Base: 973

Mr Major

Mr Blair

Mr Ashdown

A capable leader	22% 39% 26%
Good in a crisis	14% 9% 10%
Understands world problems	24% 17% 18%
Tends to talk down to people	21% 12% 8%
Rather narrow minded	22% 7% 6%
Too inflexible	19% 6% 5%
Has sound judgement	11% 19% 18%
More honest than most politicians	21% 20% 31%
Down-to-earth	13% 23% 27%
Understands the problems facing Britain	27% 36% 26%
Patriotic	26% 14% 25%
Has got a lot of personality	6% 35% 20%
Rather inexperienced	6% 35% 19%
Out of touch with ordinary people	47% 10% 7%
No opinion	8% 11% 24%

Q14 If a Labour government is elected after the next General Election, do you think it will or will not ...? Base: 972

Q15 If a Conservative government is elected after the next General Election, do you think it will or will not ...? Base: 960

Q16 Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, or what?

Conservative	29%
Labour	36%
Liberal Democrats	11%
Scottish/Welsh Nationalist	2%
Green	1%
Referendum Party	*%
Other	1%
None of these	14%
Refused	1%
Don't know	5%

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,932 adults aged 18+ at 173 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted on 21-24 March 1997. Base: All respondents, unless stated. The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (7%), are undecided (10%) or refuse to name a party (2%). All figures are in percentages. Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, the exclusion of don't knows or computer rounding. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.