Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.
81% of Lib Dem members support the Coalition
Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Comparison with February 2012’s figures)
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81% (-3%) – Support
14% (+1%) – Oppose
4% (+1%) – Don’t know / No opinion
Support for the Coalition remains high, at 81%, in spite of the difficulties its endured in recent weeks as a result of the controversy over the NHS reforms. The net support rating, at +67%, is the lowest we’ve yet recorded, but only marginally: it was +68% in December. Support for the principle of the Coalition has been above 80% ever since we started asking this question in our surveys in July 2010.
Approval of Coalition Government’s record dips to +32%
LDV asked: Do you approve or disapprove of the Coalition Government’s record to date? (comparison with February 2012’s figures)
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62% (-3%) – Approve
30% (+5%) – Disapprove
8% (-2%) – Don’t know / No opinion
However, the net approval for the Coalition’s record to date has taken a hit, down from +40% last month to +32% in March: that’s the same as it was in January 2011 in the aftermath of the tuition fees’ U-turn.
• Over 1,300 Lib Dem paid-up party members are registered with LibDemVoice.org. Some 507 responded to the latest survey, which was conducted between 4th and 8th March.
• Please note: we make no claims that the survey is fully representative of the Lib Dem membership as a whole. However, LibDemVoice.org’s surveys are the largest independent samples of the views of Lib Dem members across the country, and have in the past accurately predicted the winners of the contest for Party President, and the result of the conference decision to approve the Coalition agreement.
• The full archive of our members’ surveys can be viewed here
* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.
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6 Comments
I would suggest an urgent re-polling of members on these questions following the leadership’s shenanigans over the Health Bill and vote in Parliament last night. Possibly with the added question Do you approve or disapprove of decision to allow one of the potential Emergency Motions in the ballot to be titled “The Shirley Williams’ motion.”
I think the media paint the party as being 90%+ against the Coalition which is clearly a massive distortion of the truth. I hope we get a Coalition Agreement (part II) so that both parties have a common vision for the next 3 years.
@David Evans. You cant wait a month ?
I can, but can the party afford to? Or do we think it’s it too late already?
I think we should poll the general public, rather than Party activists and paid-up members. I suspect the results could be vastly different. We have made a grave error by aligning ourselves with Cameron & Co. Inc.
I think the survey questions, and the titles, are misleading. Take the first one:
“Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives?”
Well, that’s not a yes/no question. Personally I support the idea of the Lib Dems being in a coalition, although I’d rather they were in a coalition with pretty much anyone other than the Conservatives. Given that the Conservatives are the only available choice, I’m supportive of them forming a coalition, because I think that there should be more attempt to find agreement in politics and less divisiveness. But I’m not supportive of what the coalition government that we’ve actually got has actually done. It’s possible that I might be inclined to answer “yes” to this question on the basis of this viewpoint, but that certainly doesn’t mean that I “support the coalition” as the heading to this question simplistically suggests. On the contrary, I oppose almost everything it’s done.