Today’s ComRes survey for The Independent is much more consistent with Friday’s YouGov survey for The Telegraph than Saturday’s ICM poll for The Guardian. ComRes gives the Conservatives a 41% to 30% lead over Labour with the LibDems on 16%. The ConservativeHome graphic will be added a little later.
There are some other encouraging numbers in the Independent’s poll:
- On a forced choice, voters agree by 48% to 36% that "it’s time for a change; next government should be a Conservative one" over "prefer a Labour government to a Conservative one". That suggests that Brown is failing (has failed?) in his central mission to convince voters that he is the change that the country needs. It will also provide food for thought for Nick Clegg. Voters may be unforgiving if the LibDems prop up a government that voters think has had its day.
- Cameron leads Brown by 39% to 37% on ‘best person to be Prime Minister’ and by 51% to 31% on ‘most likeable’.
- By 40% to 35% the Tories are thought to have the best frontbench.
- The one Christmas crumb of comfort for Mr Brown is that by 44% to 36% Brown is most trusted to take the British economy through a potentially difficult time in 2008. That might have been a more interesting question if the "2008" hadn’t been included.
The poll was conducted on 14th to 16th December so would not have registered any ‘Clegg effect’.