Labour’s poll gloom continues
Is there anything that Brown Central can do?
The August ICM poll for the Guardian is out and like all other polls reporting this month it is simply more of the same. Labour in the doldrums in the 20s with the Tories in the 40s.
The changes in the Guardian’s graphic, above, are with the last poll in the paper in July. Compared with the Sunday Mirror ICM poll the weekend before last the changes were CON -2 LAB -1: LD nc. – so an increase in the overall share going to other parties.
The poll further dashes Labour’s hopes that it might be able to make real inroads because of the apparent problems that the Tories were having on the NHS between the leadership and some sections of the party.
On top of all of this there was a new question from ICM which shows the scale of the divide now in the country.
As Julian Glover reports: “Asked, regardless of individual party preferences, whether a Tory government under David Cameron, or a Labour one under Gordon Brown, would be best for Britain, most people back the opposition.
While 58% of all voters – including 37% of people who voted Labour in 2005 – now think Cameron would be best, only 31% back Brown. The Conservatives lead Labour among all social classes and in all regions, although they are strongest among richer voters and those in the south.
Crucially, a Cameron government is the clear preference of most Liberal Democrats – 56% would rather see the Tories in power, against 36% who want Labour. In recent general elections, Lib Dem voters tended to gang up with Labour ones to stop the Conservatives winning marginal seats. At the next election, Labour could find itself the victim of Lib Dem tactical voting instead.”
What an awful prospect for Gordon Brown as he prepares to return to work at the end of next week.