Party Conference - Conservatives

CONSERVATIVE MPs LACK TRUST IN CAMERON & OSBORNE A new poll of MPs, published ahead of the Conservative Party Conference, has revealed that David Cameron is currently only the sixth most trusted member of his own Cabinet amongst Conservative MPs. Meanwhile, the Chancellor, George Osborne is trusted even less and is cited by none of the Conservative MPs interviewed as their most trusted Cabinet Member.

1. MICHAEL GOVE MOST TRUSTED MEMBER OF THE CABINET AMONGST CONSERVATIVE MPs Amongst Conservative MPs, Education Secretary Michael Gove is the most trusted Conservative Cabinet Member, with 17% of respondents naming him as their ‘most trusted’ minister.

Other figures on the Rightwing of the Conservative Party also performed strongly, with both Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson selected as ‘most trusted’ by 13% of respondents.

The Prime Minister performs less strongly than a number of his ministers. Only 6% of those Conservative MPs surveyed choosing him as their ‘most trusted’ member of the Cabinet.

None of those Conservative MPs surveyed, identified George Osborne as their ‘most trusted’ member of the Cabinet.

The survey has been published today by the world’s leading public relations company, Edelman, and leading pollsters Populus. It is the third in a unique series of reports on trust in the three main parties, released to coincide with this year’s party conferences.

Insights from today’s report include:

MOST TRUSTED

20

17%

13%

13%

11%

6%

6%

0%

15

10

5

0 MICHAEL GOVE

IAIN OWEN DUNCAN PATERSON SMITH

WILLIAM CHRIS DAVID HAGUE GRAYLING CAMERON

GEORGE OSBORNE

Table 1 Conservative MPs were asked – Thinking about both sides of the coalition, which Conservative Cabinet Minister do you most trust to do the right thing (in your opinion)?

2. CLARKE AND OSBORNE LEAST TRUSTED CONSERVATIVE MINISTERS AMONGST CONSERVATIVE MPs Ken Clarke has the lowest rating from Conservative MPs taking part in the survey, with 24% identifying the former Justice Secretary as the Conservative Cabinet Member they trusted least to do the right thing. This was in stark contrast to the 63% of Liberal Democrat respondents who cited Clarke as their most trusted Conservative member of the Cabinet.

The Chancellor, George Osborne also performed poorly with 13% of those Conservatives questioned naming him as the Conservative cabinet minister they trust least. Meanwhile, the new Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell was cited by 7% of respondents as the Cabinet Minster they least trusted.

24% CONS

63%

13% CONS

7%

CONS

LIB DEM

Populus surveyed 120 MPs on the Populus Parliament Panel between 20th June and 20th July by self-completion postal questionnaire and online. Data was weighted to be representative of the House of Commons in terms of Party representation. Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of ‘don’t know’ categories. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. For more information, see www.populus.co.uk/methodology/Transparency-and-the-British-Polling-Council/.

3. SIX-OUT-OF-TEN CONSERVATIVE MPs RANK VINCE CABLE AS LEAST TRUSTED LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CABINET MINISTER Conservative MPs identified Vince Cable as the Liberal Democrat cabinet minister they trusted least to do the right thing. 60% of Conservative respondents placed the Business Secretary as their least trusted member of the cabinet, while 11% chose the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Meanwhile “orange book” Liberal Democrats received the most backing from Conservative MPs. Danny Alexander is named as the ‘most trusted’ Liberal Democrat Minister by 34% of Conservative MPs, while Ed Davey was cited by 13%. However, many Conservative MPs appeared unenthusiastic about their coalition partners and 17% said they trusted ‘none of them’ to do the right thing.

LEAST TRUSTED MOST TRUSTED

-60%

-11%

-9%

9%

17%

34%

NONE OF THEM

DANNY ALEXANDER

40 20 0

-20

-40

-60

Table 2 Consevative MPs were asked – Thinking about both sides of the Coalition, which Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister do you most trust to do the right thing (in your opinion)? / Again, thinking about both sides of the Coalition, which Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister do you least trust to do the right thing (in your opinion)?

4. LIBERAL DEMOCRATS’ TRUST IN CONSERVATIVE COALITION PARTNERS HOLDS UP A significant proportion of Liberal Democrat MPs continue to trust the Conservatives to fulfill their commitments in Government, with only 14% stating that they did not trust them to fulfill their promises at all. This is in stark contrast to the 59% of Conservative MPs who said they did not trust the Liberal Democrats to fulfill their commitments in Government.

While 57% of Liberal Democrat MPs who took part in the survey recorded a ‘neutral’ assessment of how trustworthy they considered the Conservatives, 29% remained positive about their trust in the Conservatives to deliver on their commitments in Government.

VINCE CABLE

NICK CLEGG

LYNNE ED FEATHERSTONE DAVEY

LIB DEM MPs OVERALL

60

57%

50 40 30

29%

20

14%

10 0

Don’t trust Conservatives to fulfill their commitments

Neutral

Trust Conservatives to fulfill their commitments

Table 3 Liberal Democrat MPs were asked – Overall, how much do you trust each of these parties to fulfil their commitments? Please give a score from 1-9 where 1 is ‘not at all’ and 9 is ‘a great deal’. 1-3=Don’t Trust, 4-6=Neutral, 7-9=Trust

CHRIS RUMFITT, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT EDELMAN, COMMENTED:

“

The torrid time endured by the Government over the last few months has clearly taken its toll on David Cameron’s standing amongst his own MPs, with the Prime Minister now only the sixth most trusted member of his own Cabinet.

”

“

David Cameron might also be concerned that a number of potential rivals within his Cabinet currently enjoy much higher trust rating from Tory MPs. The promotion of Owen Paterson and Iain Duncan Smith’s retention as Work and Pensions Secretary shows that No10 recognises their popularity within the Party.

”

“

If Cameron’s trust rating amongst his own MPs is bad, George Osborne’s is worse still. The last year has seen the relegation of the Chancellor from Conservative heir apparent to someone battling for trust amongst Conservative MPs.

”

ABOUT EDELMAN

ABOUT POPULUS

Edelman is the world’s largest public relations firm, with 65 offices and more than 4,500 employees worldwide, as well as affiliates in more than 30 cities.

Edelman was named Advertising Age’s top-ranked PR firm of the decade in 2009 and one of its “A-List Agencies” in both 2010 and 2011; Adweek’s “2011 PR Agency of the Year;” PRWeek’s “2011 Large PR Agency of the Year;” and The Holmes Report’s “2011 Global Agency of the Year” and its 2011 “North American Large Agency of the Year.” Edelman was named one of the “Best Places to Work” by Advertising Age in 2010 and 2012 and among Glassdoor’s top five “2011 Best Places to Work.” Edelman owns specialty firms Edelman Berland (research), Blue (advertising), A&R Edelman (technology), and agencies Edelman Significa (Brazil), and Pegasus (China).

Populus is a leading research and strategy consultancy that helps organisations understand their reputation among key audiences. For further information see www.populus.co.uk

Visit www.edelman.co.uk for more information.

Populus surveyed 120 MPs on the Populus Parliament Panel between 20th June and 20th July by self-completion postal questionnaire and online.

Data was weighted to be representative of the House of Commons in terms of Party representation. Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of ‘don’t know’ categories.

Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. For more information, see www.populus.co.uk/methodology/ Transparency-and-the-British-Polling-Council/.

DANIEL J EDELMAN • SOUTHSIDE • 105 VICTORIA STREET • SW1E 6QT • WWW.EDELMAN.CO.UK