Lord Ashcroft’s mega poll suggests that Boris NOT the magic bullet that would win GE2015 for the Tories
“In his London campaigns Boris undeniably attracted voters who usually support other parties. As our research shows, this would be less likely to work in a general election. Otherwise Labour and Lib Dem supporting voters backed Boris as Mayor on a personal mandate and a personal manifesto; for many, the fact that he was a Tory was incidental. Asking them to vote for a Conservative government, inhabited by the Conservative Party and implementing Conservative policies but with Boris at the helm, would be a rather different proposition. The uncommitted and uninterested, meanwhile, would give him a hearing, but Boris alone would not be a good enough reason for them to vote Tory.” – Lord Ashcroft
@LordAshcroft on mega-poll: "having Boris as leader would not make the things that stop people voting Tory go away" http://t.co/5LNx7eLJLQ
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 28, 2013
Boris behind both Cameron in Miliband for best PM according to @LordAshcroft mega-poll. http://t.co/5LNx7eLJLQ See pic.twitter.com/COFSFh1HKa
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 28, 2013
35% of UKIP supporters say they'd be more likely to vote CON at GE2015 with Boris as leader – @LordAshcroft poll pic.twitter.com/zPrSgBNhOg
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 28, 2013
I’ve not had chance overnight to go through the 100+ pages of data in the full report but it does appear that the Ashcroft conclusion is correct.
The question is what this set of comprehensive research is going to do to the Mayor’s chances of becoming Cameron’s successor. Overall it is not the boost that many Boris supporters might have been hoping for. In any case I’ve always felt that the Tories are not going to replace one ex-Etonian ex-Bullingdon Club member with another one.
Mike Smithson
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