Polls point to Lib Dem victory in Bristol West
August 14, 2003 12:00 AM
Williams: Encouraging results.
Recent polls show that support for the Liberal Democrats has grown sharply in the two years since the last General Election. The July 2003 ICM/Guardian poll recorded that 22% of people would vote Lib Dem, compared to 17% in a similar poll completed in August 2001.
Support for the Lib Dems has rocketed amongst a number of groups since the general election. Support has grown amongst old and young alike. Pensioners and voters aged under 24 are now more than twice as likely to consider voting Liberal Democrat as two years ago.
Older people have been appalled by Labour's failure to improve standards in the NHS, tackle pensioner poverty or fund long-term personal care. Labour's policies on university tuition fees and Blair's war in Iraq have been unpopular with younger voters.
Manual workers are also switching their traditional allegiance away from the Labour Party, seeing the Liberal Democrats as a credible alternative to represent disadvantaged and urban areas. This follows marked improvements in the Lib Dem vote in large cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle in the 2001 General Election. The ICM/Guardian polls show this group are nearly twice as likely to consider voting Lib Dem as two years ago.
An earlier poll (June 2003) poll showed that Charles Kennedy MP was the most highly regarded party leader, with 44% of respondents of all political persuasions feeling that he was doing a good job; Tony Blair and Iain Duncan Smith scored 39% and 28% respectively.
Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Bristol West, Stephen Williams, comments, "These are really encouraging results. They show that our policies and honest approach are appealing to voters, including many who have historically supported Labour. We need only a small swing from Labour of 4% to win Bristol West. If the current trend in the polls is sustained down to the next election then Bristol West will surely elect its first Lib Dem MP."
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