Times Election Poll - Week 1
Political Attitudes in Great Britain: Data on likelihood to vote, voting intention, strength of support and party image, taken at the outset of the 1997 election campaign.
- MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,118 adults aged 18+ at 84 sampling points across Great Britain.
- Fieldwork was conducted on 1 April 1997, and the results published in The Times on 3 April 1997.
- Data weighted to match the profile of the population.
- An asterisk (*) denotes a figure below 0.5%, but not zero.
Q1 How do you intend to vote in the General Election on May 1st? (If undecided or refused at Q1) Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support?
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: 1,984
| Conservative |  28% |
| Labour |  55% |
| Liberal Democrats |  11% |
| Scottish/Welsh Nationalist |  3% |
| Green Party |  1% |
| Referendum Party |  2% |
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| Would not vote |  6% |
| Undecided | 12% |
| Refused | 4% |
Q3 Can you tell me how likely you are to get along to vote in the General Election? Base: All
| % | |
| Certain to vote | 63 |
| Very likely to vote | 12 |
| Quite likely to vote | 12 |
| Not very likely to vote | 5 |
| Certain not to vote | 6 |
| Don't know | 2 |
Q4 How strongly do you support the... PARTY NAMED IN Q1 or Q2. Do you support them very strongly, fairly strongly, not very strongly or not strongly at all? Base: All naming party (859)
| % | |
| Very strongly | 25 |
| Fairly strongly | 45 |
| Not very strongly | 22 |
| Not strongly at all | 7 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Q5 Have you definitely decided to vote for the...PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2 party or is there a chance you may change your mind before you vote? Base: All naming party (859)
| 1 April 1997 | 11-12 March 1992 | |
| % | % | |
| Definitely decided | 71 | 64 |
| May change mind | 25 | 32 |
| Don't know | 4 | 4 |
Q6 If you do change your mind about voting for the....PARTY NAMED AT Q1/2, which party would you vote for instead? Base: All who may change their mind (214)
| All | Con | Lab | Lib Dem | |
| % | % | % | % | |
| Conservative | 14 | n/a | 24 | 18 |
| Labour | 24 | 32 | n/a | 53 |
| Liberal Democrat | 26 | 27 | 37 | n/a |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalists | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Green | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Referendum Party | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Other | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| None of these | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Don't know | 24 | 29 | 24 | 21 |
Q7 Which political party do you think has the best team of leaders to deal with the country's problems? Base: All
| Conservative | 20% |
| Labour | 40% |
| Liberal Democrats | 6% |
| Other | 1% |
| None | 14% |
| Don't know | 19% |
Q8 And which political party do you think has the best policies for the country as a whole? Base: All
| Conservative | 18% |
| Labour | 40% |
| Liberal Democrats | 8% |
| Other | 2% |
| None | 9% |
| Don't know | 23% |
Q9 Which political party do you think is the most clear and united about what its policies should be? Base: All
| Conservative | 13% |
| Labour | 37% |
| Liberal Democrats | 14% |
| Other | 2% |
| None | 16% |
| Don't know | 18% |
Q10 Who do you think would make the most capable Prime Minister, Mr Major, Mr Blair or Mr Ashdown? Base: All
| % | |
| Major | 22 |
| Blair | 46 |
| Ashdown | 14 |
| Don't know | 18 |
Q11-13 Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Read through the list slowly keeping the (PARTY) in mind. Every time you come to a statement that fits your ideas or impressions of the (PARTY) just tell me the letter next to it. You may pick as many or as few as you like. You don't have to be certain, just pick the letters next to the statements you feel fit the...(PARTY). Base: All
| Q11 | Q12 | Q13 | |
| Con | Lab | Lib Dem | |
| % | % | % | |
| Keeps its promises | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Understands problems facing Britain | 20 | 37 | 23 |
| Represents all classes | 10 | 31 | 27 |
| Looks after the interests of people like us | 9 | 30 | 13 |
| Moderate | 11 | 15 | 23 |
| Extreme | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| Concerned about the people in real need in Britain | 8 | 36 | 21 |
| Has a good team of leaders | 10 | 25 | 12 |
| Will promise anything to win votes | 40 | 31 | 14 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 50 | 7 | 6 |
| Has sensible policies | 14 | 27 | 25 |
| Too dominated by its leader | 10 | 15 | 9 |
| Professional in its approach | 13 | 21 | 15 |
| Divided | 44 | 12 | 4 |
| No opinion | 9 | 9 | 30 |
Political Attitudes in Great Britain
Technical details
These are the findings of a poll conducted by Market & Opinion Research International (MORI) on behalf of the The Times Newspaper.
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,118 adults aged 18+ at 84 enumeration district sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted in-home on 1st April 1997.
At the analysis stage, the data were weighted to match the population profile.
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. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure below 0.5%, but not zero.
Publication of the data - 3rd April 1997
As with all our studies, any press release or publication of the findings requires the advance approval of MORI. Such approval will only be refused on the grounds of inaccuracy or misinterpretation.
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