How Lib Dem members rate the performances of our shadow cabinet

A week ago, Lib Dem Voice invited the members of our private discussion forum (open to all Lib Dem members) inviting them to take part in a survey, conducted via Liberty Research, asking a number of questions about the party and the current state of British politics. Many thanks to the 200 of you who completed it; we’ve been publishing the results on LDV over the last few days.

Today, we turn our attention to the performance of the Liberal Democrat shadow cabinet, and a handful of other senior Lib Dems. Reproduced below, in alphabetical order, are the full results of our survey, which shows how effective each MP is felt by members to be, together with a net satisfaction rating (those who think they’re very/fairly effective minus those think they’re very/fairly ineffective). The figure in brackets is their net satisfaction rating in September 2009, the last time we polled party members.

For those looking for our ‘golden dozen’ most popular Lib Dem shadow cabinet members, here it is:

10.

11.

12.

In general, most of the shadow cabinet have improved their ratings since last we asked the question, almost six months ago. Particularly noteworthy are Chris Huhne, Danny Alexander, David Heath, David Laws, Jeremy Browne, Paul Burstow, Sarah Teather, Simon Hughes and Tim Farron – all record double digit increases in their net satisfaction ratings.

Here’s the complete list:

Alistair Carmichael, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland
Very / quite effective = 24%
Very / quite ineffective = 18%
Don’t know / No opinion = 58%
Net satisfaction = +6% (0% in September 2009)

Chris Huhne, Shadow Home Secretary
Very / quite effective = 88%
Very / quite ineffective = 6%
Don’t know / No opinion = 5%
Net satisfaction = +82% (+63%)

Danny Alexander, Chair of the Manifesto Group
Very / quite effective = 43%
Very / quite ineffective = 21%
Don’t know / No opinion = 36%
Net satisfaction = +22% (+5%)

David Heath, Shadow Leader of the House
Very / quite effective = 46%
Very / quite ineffective = 13%
Don’t know / No opinion = 41%
Net satisfaction = +33% (+21%)

David Howarth, Shadow Justice Secretary
Very / quite effective = 53%
Very / quite ineffective = 17%
Don’t know / No opinion = 31%
Net satisfaction = +36% (+36%)

David Laws, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
Very / quite effective = 60%
Very / quite ineffective = 18%
Don’t know / No opinion = 22%
Net satisfaction = +42% (+29%)

Don Foster, Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, and Olympics
Very / quite effective = 32%
Very / quite ineffective = 32%
Don’t know / No opinion = 36%
Net satisfaction = 0% (-2%)

Edward Davey, Shadow Foreign Secretary
Very / quite effective = 48%
Very / quite ineffective = 32%
Don’t know / No opinion = 19%
Net satisfaction = +16% (+20%)

Jenny Willott, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Very / quite effective = 19%
Very / quite ineffective = 25%
Don’t know / No opinion = 56%
Net satisfaction = -6% (-7%)

Jeremy Browne, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Very / quite effective = 32%
Very / quite ineffective = 23%
Don’t know / No opinion = 45%
Net satisfaction = +9% (-1%)

John Thurso, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Very / quite effective = 26%
Very / quite ineffective = 31%
Don’t know / No opinion = 44%
Net satisfaction = -5% (-4%)

Julia Goldsworthy, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Very / quite effective = 48%
Very / quite ineffective = 25%
Don’t know / No opinion = 27%
Net satisfaction = +17% (+17%)

Lord McNally, Lib Dem Leader in the House of Lords
Very / quite effective = 39%
Very / quite ineffective = 19%
Don’t know / No opinion = 42%
Net satisfaction = +10% (+18%)

Lynne Featherstone, Spokesperson for Youth and Equality
Very / quite effective = 64%
Very / quite ineffective = 11%
Don’t know / No opinion = 25%
Net satisfaction = +53% (+49%)

Michael Moore, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Very / quite effective = 22%
Very / quite ineffective = 35%
Don’t know / No opinion = 43%
Net satisfaction = -13% (-14%)

Nick Harvey, Shadow Defence Secretary
Very / quite effective = 27%
Very / quite ineffective = 33%
Don’t know / No opinion = 40%
Net satisfaction = -6% (-10%)

Norman Baker, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Very / quite effective = 72%
Very / quite ineffective = 9%
Don’t know / No opinion = 19%
Net satisfaction = +63% (+63%)

Norman Lamb, Shadow Health Secretary
Very / quite effective = 67%
Very / quite ineffective = 15%
Don’t know / No opinion = 19%
Net satisfaction = +52% (+46%)

Paul Burstow, Chief Whip
Very / quite effective = 30%
Very / quite ineffective = 19%
Don’t know / No opinion = 51%
Net satisfaction = +11% (+1%)

Roger Williams, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Very / quite effective = 13%
Very / quite ineffective = 21%
Don’t know / No opinion = 67%
Net satisfaction = -8% (-7%)

Sarah Teather, Shadow Minister for Housing
Very / quite effective = 62%
Very / quite ineffective = 18%
Don’t know / No opinion = 20%
Net satisfaction = +44% (+27%)

Simon Hughes, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Very / quite effective = 64%
Very / quite ineffective = 21%
Don’t know / No opinion = 15%
Net satisfaction = +43% (+29%)

Stephen Williams, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Very / quite effective = 21%
Very / quite ineffective = 31%
Don’t know / No opinion = 48%
Net satisfaction = -10% (-4%)

Steve Webb, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Very / quite effective = 55%
Very / quite ineffective = 16%
Don’t know / No opinion = 29%
Net satisfaction = +39% (+40%)

Tim Farron, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Very / quite effective = 49%
Very / quite ineffective = 18%
Don’t know / No opinion = 33%
Net satisfaction = +31% (+20%)

Vince Cable, Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor
Very / quite effective = 96%
Very / quite ineffective = 1%
Don’t know / No opinion = 2%
Net satisfaction = +95% (+96%)

Willie Rennie, Chair of Parliamentary Campaigns
Very / quite effective = 44%
Very / quite ineffective = 17%
Don’t know / No opinion = 38%
Net satisfaction = +27% (+16%)

2 Comments

Niklas Smith 15th Feb '10 - 7:05pm

It’s interesting that the general trend has been an increasing approval rating. Is that because fewer people think shadow cabinet members were ineffective, or because more people give an opinion (usually a positive one)? It would be interesting if the latter was the case because that would imply that our cabinet is getting more exposure in the media.
Jock 16th Feb '10 - 1:27pm

Personally I did not vote anyone as “ineffective” though I was only able to think about around half a dozen to whom I could give a positive rating. Consequently most people got “no opinion” which is technically true, but if “effectiveness” means being able to make enough of a show to enable someone to form an opinion, then I guess these “no opinions” would strictly speaking have been “negative”.