Phone hacking not changing attitudes to politicians, poll shows

Guardian/ICM poll shows Conservatives ahead and small rise in Ed Miliband’s personal rating – but slight slump for Labour The phone-hacking crisis has so far done little to shift attitudes to political leaders and their parties, a Guardian/ICM poll suggests. A small recovery in Ed Miliband’s personal rating has not been matched by a rise in Labour support. Instead, the Liberal Democrats appeared to have gained most, with party support up four points to 16%. That is the highest in an ICM poll since March, and also higher than in recent polls, whose different methodology typically shows a higher Labour and low Lib Dem share than the long-running Guardian/ICM series. This month’s rise in Lib Dem support has come at Labour’s expense, with the party dropping three points to 36%. This move, not yet confirmed by other polls, has the effect of giving the Conservatives, unchanged on 37%, a one-point lead. Only one other poll this year, also from ICM in March, has shown the Conservatives ahead. Other smaller parties are on a combined 11%. David Cameron remains more popular than either the coalition government or other leading politicians, although more people think he is doing a bad job than a good one. Among voters, 43% say good job – up one point on last month – and 48% say bad job – also up one. That gives him a net negative rating of -5. For Miliband, 31% say good job – up three points on June – and 47% say bad job – down two. That is a net negative rating of -16, improved from -21 last month. His position has strengthened among Labour supporters in particular. Now 58% say he is doing a good job compared with 45% last month. The Lib Dems’ rise in vote share is not matched by any improvement in Nick Clegg’s overall personal rating. While 33% say good job – down one – 54% say bad job, which is unchanged. That gives the Lib Dem leader a net negative rating of -21. But among Lib Dem supporters and past voters, there are signs of recovery. In this month’s poll 62% of people who backed the Lib Dems at the 2010 general election say they would do so again now – much higher than the 45% or so typical in recent ICM polls. Clegg’s personal rating has also risen among Lib Dems: he has a net score of +3, against -18 last month. Further polls will be needed before this shift can be confirmed as a trend and not an aberration. Meanwhile 34% of all voters say George Osborne, the chancellor, is doing a good job – unchanged – and 44% a bad one – down two. That is a net negative of -10. A decade ago, the Guardian asked people to rank professions by their status and reputation. A repeat of the exercise this month suggests little has changed. Journalists emerged bottom in both polls, with an average score of just 4.72 out of 10. That is a slight decline on 2001. Doctors come out top, on 8.05 out of 10, followed by nurses and teachers. Politicians come second last, just ahead of journalists: but hacking and the expenses scandal seems to have done little to lower their ranking further. ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1003 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 15-17 July 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Conservatives Ed Miliband Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg David Cameron Labour Voter apathy Phone hacking Julian Glover guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.