Coalition Lib Dems slipping in polls
By politics.co.uk staff
The Liberal Democrats have been handed a polling setback, slipping below 20% for the first time since the first leaders’ debate.
A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times put the Lib Dems on 18%, slipping three points. The Conservatives stood at 40%, up one, while Labour stood unchanged on 32%.
Party activists are concerned by the impact entering into government will have on the party’s fortunes.
Leader Nick Clegg has warned both coalition partners will suffer from unpopularity as they take steps to restrict public spending, but the discrepancy between their performances suggests this was not been the decisive factor this time round.
The poll gave the deputy prime minister Mr Clegg on positive approval ratings of +38%, while David Cameron was on +41%, however.
Its assessment of the state of the Labour leadership race supported Harriet Harman’s claim this morning that the only female candidate Diane Abbott would give her rivals a run for their money.
Ms Abbott was backed by 13% of respondents to YouGov’s research, which was carried out on June 10th and 11th.
This was more than Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham and Ed Balls who were on seven per cent, four per cent and five per cent respectively. David Miliband remains the frontrunner, on 22% according to the general public.
