Labour’s Ed Miliband problem

By Matthew Barrett
^{Follow Matthew on Twitter.}

Labour enjoy a lead in the polls at the moment. The latest poll, for example, gives them a 7 point lead, with the full percentages at: Labour: 42 / Conservatives: 35 / Lib Dems: 10.

But as Scotland showed, poll leads can be overturned quickly during a campaign. One liability for Labour going into a campaign is their leader. His poll ratings indicate people simply don’t think of him as Prime Minister-material. The most recent polls on the subject from the big five pollsters are as follows:

• ICM (pdf): Only 30% said Ed Miliband was doing a “good job” as Labour leader. 
• ComRes: Only 22% think Miliband is a good leader of his party
• YouGov (pdf): Only 25% think Miliband is “up to the job”, 45% say he is “not up to the job”
• Populus (pdf): When asked to choose three terms to describe Ed Miliband, only 10% chose “up to the job”
• Ipsos-MORI: Only 17% think Miliband is ready to be Prime Minister

That Ipsos-MORI poll, above, is the most recent – which indicates he is looking less, and not more, like a Prime Minister as his time in office goes on.