Latest polls show Campbell suffering
Saturday, 13 Oct 2007 08:50
More bad news for Sir Menzies Campbell and the Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrat party took another step backwards today with the publication of a new poll showing the unpopularity of its leader, Sir Menzies Campbell.
The 68-year-old's popularity was only assessed by voters in Labour and Liberal Democrat marginal seats, those which the Conservatives would have needed to win if prime minister Gordon Brown had called a snap election.
Only seven per cent of those taking part in the Crosby Textor poll, all of whom were likely to vote, said they saw Sir Menzies as their preferred prime minister after the conference season had closed.
Five per cent gave him strong leadership ratings while just 25 per cent of those who said they would vote for the Lib Dems placed him as their top choice for Downing Street.
The analysis handed 13 Lib Dem seats to the Tories – including that of former leadership contender Chris Huhne.
In the main Labour-Conservative confrontation, the Battleground Britain poll handed the election squarely to Mr Brown's party.
It found that the Conservatives would have taken none of Labour's key vulnerable seats, suggesting Mr Brown would have maintained a majority similar to the 66-seat advantage he currently holds in the House of Commons.
Conservative leader David Cameron enjoyed a strong boost from his conference speech but only one in four voters said he would make the best prime minister. Mr Brown maintained a clear superiority in the leadership ratings on 42 per cent.
The Tories have made some progress, however. On the party with the strongest policies before and after the conference season, Labour's 14-point lead was reduced to just three.