Rather a strong question in the heading, you might think. But when YouGov asked thousands of people about the characteristics of our national leaders the replies were striking.
Asked whether leaders were “strong” the replies were Cameron 18 per cent, Ed Miliband 7 per cent and Nick Clegg4 per cent.
On “good in a crisis“, it was Cameron 13 per cent, Miliband 4 per cent and Clegg 3 per cent.
“In touch with ordinary people” produced a different result with Cameron on 8 per cent, Miliband on 21 per cent and Clegg on 11 per cent. (Miliband was also slightly ahead on ‘honest‘).
As for “natural leader“, Cameron was on 17 per cent with Miliband and Clegg both tied on 5 per cent.
The most striking angle is not who comes out with the most popular personality but just how low the scores are throughout; suggesting the low regard with which our political leaders are held.
With eight positive characteristics to choose from, 58 per cent of those surveyed – when asked to describe Nick Clegg – replied “none of these”.
More broadly, Labour – who might be expected to do well out of the government’s economic difficulties – appears to be treading water in the polls. Sunday’s ICM poll giving the Tories a two-point lead may be a rogue; two others that day gave Labour leads of 5 and 8 points. But should the party be consistently further ahead given the economic malaise?
Polling for the Tories by Lord Ashcroft just before the autumn statement also makes difficult reading for Miliband. Roughly 55 per cent of voters trust George Osborne on the economy over Ed Balls, while 40 per cent of people think the last Labour government is most to blame for the problems facing the British economy. Even worse, 6 in 10 believe that the government should not slow its spending cuts, because extra borrowing will “only make a bad situation worse“.
Yet Labour points to its 28 per cent result in the general election: “To add 20 points in that short space of time doesn’t really happen,” says one party insider.
One of the few groups where Labour enjoys a healthy lead is among public sector workers, where the party enjoys a massive 25-point lead. It is likely that gap will only have opened after the government announced a further squeeze on public sector pay. But the heavy leaning towards the opposition doesn’t appear to be enough to change the overall picture.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey