Just out – the YouGov daily tracker

The above chart is from a seven page report by Anthony Wells of Uk Polling Report showing the results of the YouGov daily tracker on perceptions of leading politicians. The data is based on a daily Brand Index survey of 2,000 people that YouGov carries out for its commercial clients.

It shows two ratings for Cameron (blue), Brown (brown), Campbell (yellow), and Blair (red). In each case the thin line represents how well respondents thought the leaders were doing their jobs while the thick line shows whether people like them.

As Anthony explains: “These two different measures result in some interesting contrasts. For Tony Blair the two figures are practically interchangeable and have been for the last two months – Tony Blair’s current job approval rating is minus 35, his positive/negative perception rating is minus 31.

Ming Campbell’s current job approval is minus 16 and his positive/negative perception rating is minus 17, but before his recent upturn his job approval had been consistently lagging behind his likability rating, suggesting that even those who were well disposed towards Campbell and his party didn’t think he was performing well.

The opposite is the case for both Gordon Brown and David Cameron – their job approval ratings are significantly higher than their perception ratings, suggesting there are many people who dislike Brown or Cameron, either because of their politics or their personalities, but who grudgingly admit they are doing a good job.

The report is full of fascinating data of which the above is just a taster. UK Polling Report has developed into a great resource – the addition of the tracker data makes it even better. Well done Anthony.

Mike Smithson