Comments on: Lib Dems recovering in new Populus poll

By: Cllr Peter Cairns (SNP)

Cllr Peter Cairns (SNP) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:43:18 +0000

I think the 64%, 70% figures highlight the difficulty and dilemma for the LibDems. They are being pulled in two different directions.

On the one hand they are against the focus on “The Leader” over the party and it’s policies, and want to stand as a party of principle and consistancy rather than one that is based on PR, spin and Focus groups.

On the other hand the poll results suggest the road to recovery is to go for “The Leader” over the party/policy and to come up with some eye catching populist policies.

That’s the LibDem dilemma, the way to show we are different from the other two is to copy them.

What they need is one of two things, either one of the most difficult things to do in politics find a new exciting and different way to say the same things as now, repackage continuity…..

That or an “event” like Iraq which highlights favourably an existing difference.

Without being overly harsh, I don’t think they can really rebrand themselves successfully as new and exciting while still the same, and the more the other two squeeze the middle ground the and they try to hold on to it the less opportunity there will be for real differences.

Right now they seem to be left with little more than,

“Vote For Us, We’re Not Them”.

I just don’t see that as being enough, although given the right of centre dance Brown and Cameron are doing, if I lived in England it might be enough for me ( and another 11% of the population).

Peter.

By: Anthony Wells

Anthony Wells — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:54:32 +0000

John T – it wasn’t in the original coverage. The Times quite often does that, keeps back some findings for Peter Riddell to base his columns on later in the week. Nothing on the Populus website yet so we can’t see what was actually asked.

Alec – more likely Populus took the line from the LD PPB too see how much people agreed with it.

By: John T

John T — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:22:02 +0000

The wording I read was :

“64% believe that there is so little difference between the main parties that there is a real opportunity for the Lib Dems if they can develop some clear and distinctive policies”.

Which again is different from saying that only LibDems could be a distinctive opposition. I wonder what the real questions and answers were?

By: Alec

Alec — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:13:11 +0000

“and 64% said there was now so little difference between the Labour and Tory parties that only the Liberal Democrats could be a distinctive opposition”

This is interesting as it was exactly the line the LDs took in the recent party political broadcast. Clearly they must be doing their own private polling.

I’m struggling to get a feel for how any sustained LD recovery would impact upon the bigger picture. Many commented earlier that this would worry Cameron more than Brown, but the polls seem contradictory on this. I guess a stronger 3rd party must make the Tories overall task more difficult, but it might make Labour’s job of holding a majority also more problematic.

By: John T

John T — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:45:52 +0000

Something like that was in a Times article to-day, but it said two things –

“70 per cent agree that if the Lib Dems had “a strong and credible new leader, many more people would consider voting for them”,

That’s not the same as 70% would favour LibDems, or consider voting for them.

The reason why it wasn’t commented on earlier, I think was that the actual Poll didn’t highlight it, and nor did Anthony.

I’m confused!