The headline numbers in the latest ICM survey for The Guardian* are a little disappointing for Cameron’s Conservatives. The Tories only enjoy a 4% lead on the eve of the Labour and Tory conferences although they will hope that lead will increase if Labour’s conference is, as expected, fractious and the Tory conference is a showcase for Cameron’s greener, gentler conservatism. Below the headline, ICM’s latest findings do offer encouragement for the Conservatives.
70% of voters agreed with one of the most powerful slogans in politics – that it was ‘time for a change’. The people surveyed by ICM didn’t appear to believe that Gordon Brown represented that change. The Conservative lead increased to +6% with Gordon Brown in charge.
Also below the headline ICM findings are a series of findings that show people are increasingly preferring Cameron to Brown. The figures below indicate Cameron’s advantage on the listed attributes:
- Most pleasant personality +35%
- Most able to work with his colleagues +17%
- Most enthusiasm for the job +12%
- Most honest +8%
- Likely to make best Prime Minister +3%
- Most arrogant -21%
- More likely to stab colleagues in the back -23%
* The changes in the ConservativeHome graphic are with Sunday’s ICM poll for The Mirror rather than the previous ICM poll for The Guardian.
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