Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron

By Stephen Tall | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 6:35 pm

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Cameron ends the year a nose ahead of Miliband among Lib Dems

We’ve been asking this question for 15 months, and over the past year there has been quite a reversal in fortunes for the two party leaders, as this graph illustrates:

Here’s the detail from this month’s survey…

Do you think David Cameron is doing well or badly as Prime Minister? (Comparison with November’s results in brackets.)

1% – Very well
33% – Well

Total well = 34% (+7%)

49% – Badly
14% – Very badly

Total badly = 63% (-6%)

4% – Don’t know

Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?

2% – Very well
31% – Well

Total well = 33% (-3%)

47% – Badly
17% – Very badly

Total badly = 64% (+4%)%

4% – Don’t know

A year ago, David Cameron was recording positive net figures even among Lib Dems, while Ed Miliband was plunging the depths of popular opinion. Today, perceptions of the Tory and Labour leaders has converged among Lib Dems, both scoring near-identical negative ratings of -29% and -31% respectively. Though I don’t suppose either are bothered by what Lib Dem members think of them, it’s an interesting barometer of their credibility as potential partners if there were to be another post-2015 coalition.

As I customarily note, rating David Cameron’s performance as Prime Minister is a different question from rating his performance as Conservative party leader (whether Mr Cameron’s ratings would be higher or lower among Lib Dem members if we asked that question, I don’t know. Though I could hazard a guess).

Over 1,200 Lib Dem paid-up party members are registered with LibDemVoice.org. Over 500 responded to the latest survey, which was conducted between 7th and 11th December.
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 offered accurate guides to what party members think.
For further information on the reliability/credibility of our surveys, please refer to FAQs: Are the Liberal Democrat Voice surveys of party members accurate? and polling expert Anthony Wells’ verdict, On that poll of Lib Dem members.
The full archive of our members’ surveys can be viewed at www.libdemvoice.org/category/ldv-members-poll

* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.

5 Comments

annie 3rd Jan '13 - 10:59am

…..As a headline “Cameron ends the year a nose ahead of Miliband among Lib Dems” is true but hardly the underlying ‘truth’…
What the figures reveal is that there has been an almost complete reversal in the perception of Milliband and Cameron.
tony b 4th Jan '13 - 2:05am

This “What the figures reveal is that there has been an almost complete reversal in the perception of Milliband and Cameron”.
john mc 4th Jan '13 - 11:58pm

yes, Miliband’s ‘popularity’ has risen massively from -60% to, err, -30%.
tony b 5th Jan '13 - 1:47am

john mc: “yes, Miliband’s ‘popularity’ has risen massively from -60% to, err, -30%”
still this annie: “What the figures reveal is that there has been an almost complete reversal in the perception of Milliband and Cameron”
annie 5th Jan '13 - 8:17am

john mc 4th Jan ’13 – 11:58pm……………………..yes, Miliband’s ‘popularity’ has risen massively from -60% to, err, -30%……….

A far more pertinent remark would have been, ‘yes,Cameron’s‘popularity’ has fallen massively from +40% to, err, -30%……….
However, I notice how, since the ‘merger’, a section of posters target their criticism at Labour; choosing to mock a 30% rise rather than a 70% fall