MORI's exclusive survey for The Sun reveals that, among the general public, David Cameron is the clear favourite to lead the Conservative Party, and neither his age or education background are seen as barriers to him becoming Prime Minister.
MORI's recent poll for The Sun indicates that more than a third of the public (36%) would like to see Tony Blair step down as Prime Minister 'immediately'. Furthermore, when asked who they think would make the most capable Prime Minister, the public prefer Gordon Brown to Blair, albeit by a small margin (42% vs 39%). Support for Brown is greatest amongst Liberal Democrat supporters, while more Labour and Conservative supporters prefer Tony Blair.
Public satisfaction with the way Tony Blair is doing his job as Prime Minister has dropped over the month to a net satisfaction score of -29%, down 17 points from August. Public satisfaction with the way the Government is running the country has dropped as well, down to a net score of -32%, down 14 points from 18% in August.
MORI's latest monthly Political Monitor survey, conducted between 11 and 15 August 2005, shows that the proportion of the public satisfied with the way Tony Blair is doing his job has slipped to 39%, down from 44% recorded in MORI's July Political Monitor which was conducted in the aftermath of the London bombings. Terrorism/defence/foreign affairs continue to be seen as the key national priority, with over half the public spontaneously citing these as the most important issues facing the country.
Satisfaction with the way Tony Blair is doing his job as Prime Minister rose to the highest levels for two and half years following the London bombings on 7th July. MORI's monthly Political Monitor for the Financial Times, conducted between 14 and 18 July, shows that 44% of the public are satisfied with Mr Blair, up from 39% in June (and up from 33% at the start of the year). The proportion of the public dissatisfied with the Prime Minister is at 47% this month, down from 52% in June (and 57% in January 2005).
Net satisfaction with the way Tony Blair is doing his job as Prime Minister is at the highest since April 2003. His net satisfaction rating among the public is at -13% (39% satisfied, 53% dissatisfied). Among Labour supporters, net satisfaction is higher than it has been in the last 3 years, in July 2002 (50%). Net satisfaction with Mr Howard as leader of the Conservative Party has followed the opposite pattern: satisfaction with the conservative leader amongst the public peaked as the election neared (-10 net satisfaction in March), but is now back up to -26 net satisfaction, where he was at the end of 2004. Amongst Conservative supporters, these swings are even more pronounced. From a net satisfaction rating of +33 in March this year, support for Mr Howard among Conservative voters has dropped to +2. That is, 42% of Conservative supporters are dissatisfied with Mr Howard as leader of the Conservative party (44% satisfied).
