Is it best to have your leader not liked or your party?

The Ipsos-Mori polling firm has just put up on its website full details of the poll that partly appeared in the Observer yesterday.

To me the most interesting new findings are those reproduced above which show vividly the challenges faced by the the Tories and Labour as we enter the new political era.

For the Tory brand is still contaminated but Cameron’s party can take some heart from the fact that the Gordon Brown brand is also in trouble. So which is worse – to have your leader not liked by a net -19% or your party not liked by a net -23%?

This, surely, sets out the battle ground for the next couple of years – the Tories trying to make something out of Brown’s lack of public appeal and Labour trying to do what it has been so successful at doing – demonising the Tory brand.

Mike Smithson