Insight

Labour voters lukewarm on Miliband

Labour voters lukewarm on Miliband

The public at large most identified Labour?s previous record in government and Ed Miliband?s leadership (55% each) as reasons to not vote for Labour.

However, even among Labour voters a considerable 1 in 4 also picked Ed Miliband?s leadership as a reason to not vote for the party, more than any other option (26%) ? suggesting dissatisfaction with his leadership or a worry over his poor approval ratings.

Labour voters also highlighted the party?s stance on the EU referendum as a reason to not vote for the party (25%), suggesting a substantial number of Labour voters see the leadership?s present stance as a weakness.

image

By comparison, the party?s links with the trade unions were not seen by Labour voters as a particular problem, with only 12% picking it as a reason to cast their vote elsewhere. This is confirmed by the 26% of Labour voters who said weakening those links would make them less likely to vote for the party, as compared to only 11% saying it would make them more likely to vote Labour.

Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 1,942 GB adults aged 18+ from 3rd to 6th September 2013. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.

Interview Method and Sample

This survey is conducted online by CAWI (computer aided web interviewing), using Opinium?s online research panel of circa 30,000 individuals. This research is run from a representative sample of GB adults (aged 18+ in England, Scotland and Wales). The sample is defined from pre-collected registration data containing gender, age (18-34, 35-54, and 55+), region (North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Wales, and Scotland), working status and social grade to match the latest published ONS figures.

Opinium also takes into account differential response rates from the different demographic groups, to ensure the sample is representative.