Is performing well in the Commons the critical element?

The above tables are from a YouGov poll of 300 politics academics in UK universities which was prepared for the Political Studies Association.

First those questioned were asked to choose a maximum of five from a list of qualities should “matter most if a prime minister is to be successful”. Then they were asked to choose from the same list which of the qualities “matter most” IN PRACTICE to those seeking to reach Number 10.

As can be seen there was a huge difference in the response to the two questions. The academics all down-played performing well in the Commons and on TV preferring to choose “experience of real life” , “a willingness to consult”” and “intelligence”.

But when asked what mattered most in practice it was the performing elements in parliament and on TV that got highly rated. Amazingly intelligence came third from the bottom.

In this media obsessed age I think the survey is about right.

We don’t know what the political allegiances of those surveyed were but previous polls of Political Studies Association have shown a very high proportion of Labour supporters.

Mike Smithson