Ed Miliband can take heart from Maggie in 1979. In spite of being 19pc behind in the best PM ratings she won a majority of 44
In final MORI polling before Maggie’s GE1979 victory Callaghan had a 19% lead as “best PM”. LAB lost twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st…
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) April 9, 2013
So hope for EdM who consistently trails Dave on this measure?
One of the great hopes for GE2015 that you hear repeatedly from blue team supporters is that when it comes to the crunch voters won’t back an Ed Miliband-led government.
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Their reasoning is that in poll after poll when those interviewed asked to name who would make the “best PM” Ed always trails Dave.
Well in looking back at Margeret Thatcher polling I came across the above findings from MORI, as it then was, in 1979 – the year that Maggie came to power.
As can be seen in the final polling before the election Jim Callaghan had a lead of 19% on the best PM measure.
It mattered not on election day. Maggie’s Tories swept into power with a majorty of 44.
It was the same in the 1970 general election when Edward Heath won a majority even though he was a long way behind Harold Wilson on measures like “best PM”.
Mike Smithson
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