Turnout at the upcoming Scottish elections may not be as poor as some have predicted. A survey by MORI Scotland for the Scottish Daily Mail suggests the turnout of 58% in 1999 — the first elections for the new Parliament — may be matched this time. Three in five (59%) say they are absolutely certain to turn out at the election on 1 May 2003.
France is considered Britain's least reliable ally by more than half of British people, according to the 'State of Britain Survey 2003' — published today by the MORI Social Research Institute on behalf of the Financial Times.
Big events shape public opinion. Public opinion shapes the political scene. Four months before the invasion of the Falklands, Mrs. Thatcher was the least popular prime minister in polling history. John Major was little known when he became Prime Minister in November 1990, just before the Gulf War. His rating rose faster than anyone before. However, after Black Wednesday, his rating fell even faster. After dropping sharply over the past year, Blair's satisfaction rating took a 12 point jump between the end of February and the end of March.
The British public very nearly to a man (sic) say they are 'interested' in news coverage of the war in Iraq. More than four people in ten (43%) express the view that they are 'very' interested and another 42% are 'fairly' interested, making 85% in all, while one person in twenty, 5% say they are not at all interested, and another one in ten, 9%, saying they are 'not very interested'. Somewhat more men than women are 'very interested' in news coverage of the war, but perhaps not by as wide a margin as one might expect: All 43%, men 47%, women 40%.
MORI's latest survey, undertaken March 28-31, found only a bare plurality approving of the way the prime minister is handling the current situation with Iraq, 47 per cent approve and 44 per cent disapprove — or a net plus three.
Millions of Americans as well as millions of the British have demonstrated their opposition to the war in Iraq by taking to the streets of New York, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh and in other cities and towns all over America and Britain.
