Voting Intention – 13th September
13th September 2011
- Labour has opened up a slender lead over the Conservatives since an Opinium survey showed both parties at 36% in late August.
- However, this is due mainly to the Conservatives slipping to 33% while Labour remain on 36%.
- The Lib Dems remain static on 9% while Others rises to 22%
Party leader ratings
- In the party leader ratings, David Cameron comes out ahead with 37% job approval. Ed Miliband trails on 21% followed by Nick Clegg on 19%.
- While Miliband and Clegg have similar job approval figures, their disapproval ratings are very different.
- Ed Miliband?s net rating (total who approve minus the total who disapprove) is -19% while Nick Clegg?s is -34% due to 53% disapproving.
- 40% of respondents said they neither approved nor disapproved of Ed Miliband?s job performance as Labour leader, a possible sign of low visibility when compared to the other two leaders who are in government.
Government approval
- Overall approval of the government is underwater with a net rating of -14%
- 35% approved of the government’s performance while 49% disapproved. 17% neither approved nor disapproved
Government performance on issues
- While approval of the government?s performance on the economy in general is low (52% say the government is handling it badly), respondents are more concerned about unemployment with 57% of respondents saying the government is handling it badly.
- The net handling well/badly figures are even more stark: -25% for the economy in general and -41% for unemployment
Topline Voting Intention
| † | % | Change |
| Conservative | 33 | -3 |
| Labour | 36 | -1 |
| Liberal Democrats | 9 | |
| Other parties | 22 | +4 |
Other Parties (breakdown)
| † | % | Change |
| UKIP | 8 | +1 |
| Green | 4 | |
| SNP | 4 | |
| BNP | 3 | +1 |
| Plaid Cymru | 1 | +1 |
| Other | 1 | † |
Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 1,960 GB adults aged 18+ from 13th to 15th September 2011. 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 45,000 individuals. This research is run from a representative sample of GB adults (aged 18+ in England, Scotland and Wales). The sample is scientifically 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.
