A ComRes poll shows that whatever happens at this years general election (whenever we get it), voters will be unhappy:

ComRes asked whether a particular result would make people feel happy or unhappy – and every option resulted in the “unhappies” winning.
The result that would spread the most gloom would be a hung parliament with Gordon Brown remaining as prime minister.
The results for this are:

Unhappy: 64%

Happy: 30%

The next worst option, on this measure, would be a hung parliament with David Cameron as prime minister.

Unhappy: 57%

Happy: 33%

Interestingly, the figures for a Labour …

After getting hit in the face by a model of Milan cathedral, approval ratings for Silvio Berlusconi have risen by seven points – even amongst opposition voters.
Maybe this is something Gordon Brown should try doing. Get a sympathetic voter to buy a model of the House of Parliament or Big Ben or maybe even a double-decker bus (just not on expenses…) and chuck it at him then run away without getting caught.
That could then help him make a bit of an inroad on the Conservatives who have a constant lead …

Yesterday, it became pretty clear with the current polling lead enjoyed by the Conservatives is 17%, with the publication of three polls:
Ipsos-Mori:

Conservatives – 43% (+7)
Labour – 26% (+2)
Lib Dems – 19% (-6)

ICM:

Conservatives – 44% (+1)
Labour – 27% (+1)
Lib Dems – 18% (-1)

Angus Reid Strategies:

Conservatives – 40%
Labour – 23%
Lib Dems – 20%

Each of these results on an election day would give the Conservatives a majority of 100 or more in the Commons and reduce Labour to less than 200 MPs – pretty much halving the PLP.
Now these polls cannot be taken …

It seems that Labour simply can’t improve their position in polls, no matter what they do. Even when they try to turn the conversation to a topic on which they should be strong on if they are on any topic, they lose.
Even though they had a good run with their Twitter tag, that only really had any impact with the already politically aware and pretty much already-decided. But with the general public, it just gave the Tories an free opportunity – and they took advantage of that, and managed to …

Gordon Brown is John Major. There are simply too many parallels between them for this to be denied – that they both took power after the assassination of a previously all-powerful and extremely popular leader, they’re both rather bland in personality (especially in contrast with their predecessors), and they both took over at the ass-end of an administration.
But can Brown be seen as being a 1992 or 1997 version of Major? If we were following a strictly linear interpretation, we would have to have to say 1992 – since Brown …

I have felt for the a very long time that Gordon Brown has been damaging the UK – both when he was Chancellor and as Prime Minister. And now it would seem that the public has finally seen the light as well:

More than half, 51%, agree with the statement that “Gordon Brown’s continued presence as prime minister is damaging the country”, against 27% who disagree. (The Times)

That’s really quite damning. Especially since 60% also think that Brown should step down now or before the next election and that he has …

The latest YouGov poll is terrible news for Labour – their lowest ever poll rating.

Conservatives: 42% (-2)

Labour: 22% (-5)

Lib Dems: 19% (+1)

The important points to take from this are that:

There is a 19 point gap between the Conservatives and Labour, which would give a Commons majority of 152;

Labour have been most adversely affected by this issue so far;

Labour are only 3 points ahead of the Lib Dems – the lowest gap for decades.

However, this poll must be taken with a large pinch of salt. To start with, when it was …

The polls at the weekend suggested that smeargate had a huge effect on the voting intentions and gave the Conservatives huge leads of 17 and 19%. But a poll yesterday gave a lead of “just” 10%, and no major changes due to the McBride and smeargate revelations.
I can see two main options:

This is a rogue poll. After all, as Mike Smithson’s 2nd Gold Rule says “a rogue poll is on where you don’t agree with the numbers.”

Smeargate just hasn’t has much of an impact on the voting public

Personally, despite the …

The Conservatives are maintaining a double-figures lead in the polls. This lead is due to strong support from those of us who work in the private sector:

Private sector
Conservatives – 45%
Labour – 29%
Lib Dem – 17%

Nothing unusual there then. But what about the public sector? Here there’s a bit of a surprise:

Public sector
Conservative -38%
Labour – 26%
Lib Dem – 23%

It’s no surprise that there is a big preference for the Conservatives amongst private sector workers – after all, our salaries aren’t reliant on the government taking more taxes. But what is surprising …

The Conservatives lead in the polls is back in force again, with a 13 point lead.

Conservatives – 45%
Labour – 32%
Lib Dems – 14%

However, and most importantly, David Cameron and George Osborne [and now Ken Clarke] are more trusted to run the economy than Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, with a lead of seven points.
One other thing brought up in the poll is that people apparently want more state intervention:

In recent years Britain has been dominated by private firms, say 60% of the respondents, with only 19% believing it has been …