Howard fails to impress public
The selection of Michael Howard as leader of the Conservative Party has failed to impress voters.
The ICM poll for the News of the World was the first survey to garner opinion on the former home secretary’s unopposed election last Thursday.
The poll found the Tories had slipped two points since he took over the reigns.
Overall, the Tories have 31 per cent of the vote, trailing Labour by eight points. Tony Blair’s party is on 39 per cent.
The Liberal Democrats were on 22 per cent, up one point on a similar poll for the paper published on October 19.
Translated into seats at the next general election, today’s result would give Labour an historic third term of office, with Mr Blair’s Government only losing one or two seats.
ICM interviewed 1,007 adults on November 6.
