CABLE RECEIVES LEADERSHIP BOOST FROM MPs AHEAD OF PARTY CONFERENCE Evidence published today shows that Liberal Democrat MPs overwhelmingly believe Vince Cable is the Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member most likely to do the right thing in Government. Meanwhile, Ken Clarke is the Conservative Cabinet Member who enjoys most trust amongst Liberal Democrat MPs.
The survey is published today by the world’s leading public relations company, Edelman, and leading pollsters Populus. It is the first in a unique series of reports on trust in the three main Parties to be released over the coming weeks. Insights from today’s report include:
1. CABLE TOPS TRUST TABLE AMONGST LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MPS BUT RANKS BOTTOM AMONGST CONSERVATIVES
60% CONS
Amongst his own Party’s MPs, Vince Cable is the most trusted Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member (with 57% citing him as ‘most trusted’). Perhaps unsurprisingly, he is also seen as the least trusted Cabinet Member by Conservative Party MPs (60% of whom said he was their least trusted Liberal Democrat in the Cabinet).
57% LIB DEM
Meanwhile Nick Clegg enjoys only half as much support (29%) as the ‘most trusted’ amongst Liberal Democrat MP respondents.
2. ALMOST A FIFTH OF CONSERVATIVE MPS TRUST ‘NONE OF’ THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CABINET MINISTERS With the exception of Danny Alexander, who was cited by 34% of Conservative MPs as ‘most trusted’, levels of trust in Liberal Democrat Cabinet Members by Conservative MPs is low. The second most popular response amongst Conservative MPs, to the question, ‘Which Liberal Democrat Cabinet Minister do you
most trust to do the right thing’ was ‘None of them’ (with 17% recording this answer). A number of Conservative MPs also named Liberal Democrats who were not in Cabinet, including Steve Webb, Nick Harvey and Norman Lamb. LEAST TRUSTED
LEAST TRUSTED MOST TRUSTED MOST TRUSTED
34%
17%
13% /-2%
9%
63%
13% /-11%
2%
2%
2%
-9%
-60%
40
40
Table 1 Conservative 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)? 1 1
Note, a number of non-Cabinet Ministers were named by respondents to this question
20
20 0
0 -20
-20 -40
-40 -60
-60
DANNY ALEXANDER
NONE
ED DAVEY DANNY ED ALEXANDER DAVEY
STEVE WEBB STEVE WEBB
DAVID HEATH DAVID HEATH
NICK NICK NORMAN MICHAEL LYNNE VINCE CLEGG HARVEY LAMB MOORE FEATHERST. CABLE NICK NICK NORMAN MICHAEL LYNNE VINCE CLEGG HARVEY LAMB MOORE FEATHERST. CABLE
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. CLARKE MOST TRUSTED TORY BY LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MPS; OSBORNE LEAST TRUSTED
LEAST TRUSTED MOST TRUSTED
63%
13%
13%
-13%
-13%
-25%
-25%
KEN CLARKE
IAIN DUNCAN SMITH
ANDREW MITCHELL
JEREMY HUNT
MICHAEL GOVE
ANDREW LANSLEY
GEORGE OSBORNE
100
Liberal Democrat MPs cited George Osborne and Andrew Lansley as the Conservative Cabinet Members they least trust to do the right thing.
80 60
Meanwhile Ken Clarke’s position in Government is backed by 63% of Liberal Democrat MPs who cite him as the most trusted Conservative Cabinet Member when polled. Iain Duncan Smith (13%) and Andrew Mitchell (13%) came joint-second.
40
20 0
Table 2: Liberal Democrat 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)? / Again, thinking about both sides of the Coalition, which Conservative Cabinet Minister do you least trust to do the right thing (in your opinion)?
-20
4. LEVELS OF TRUST IN LIBERAL DEMOCRATS VERY LOW AMONGST CONSERVATIVE MPS
MPs OVERALL
30 25
Overall over a quarter (26%) of all Conservative MPs interviewed do not trust the Liberal Democrat Party ‘at all’ to fulfil their commitments.
26% 22%
20
20%
15
Meanwhile, none trust their Liberal Democrat colleagues ‘a great deal’ to deliver their promises.
13%
9%
10
9%
5 Table 3: Conservative 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’.
0 1
2
3
‘NOT AT ALL’
4
5
6
0%
0%
0%
7
8
9 ‘A GREAT DEAL’
CHRIS RUMFITT, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT EDELMAN, COMMENTED:
“
Speculation about Vince Cable’s future leadership ambitions have been rife recently, and this poll of Lib Dem MPs shows exactly why. He is by far the most trusted Cabinet Minister amongst Lib Dem backbenchers with more than twice the support of party leader Nick Clegg.
“
”
Meanwhile the low levels of trust Conservative MPs have for their Coalition colleagues in the Lib Dems bodes ill for the last 2 ½ years of the Government’s life. Trust is such a fundamental requirement for the working of any organisation that improving the basic trust relationships between Government colleagues must surely be a key requirement if the Coalition is to succeed.
”
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