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Press Releases
Newsnight opinion poll: political leaders
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Gordon Brown is considered less in touch with ordinary people than either
of the leaders of the two opposition parties or Tony Blair, according to a Newsnight opinion poll.
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The poll was carried out within the last
two weeks but before Tony Blair's announcement that he was
standing down as leader of the Labour party and Prime Minister.
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The poll results will be broadcast today at 10.30pm on 91Èȱ¬ Two.
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Only 30% of those polled thought Gordon Brown, current Chancellor and favourite to become Prime Minister, was "in touch with
ordinary people" compared to 40% who thought that of Conservative Leader David Cameron and
34% of Tony Blair. Ìý
More than half of those interviewed thought Gordon Brown was "arrogant"
(55%) whereas around a third (36%) thought this of David Cameron and
just over a fifth (21%) of Sir Menzies Campbell, Leader of the Liberal Democrats.
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Asked to say whether he was trustworthy less than a third replied yes for
Gordon Brown (31%) – compared to the 38% who felt David Cameron was
trustworthy or 41% who said that of Ming Campbell.
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More than half of those questioned thought Gordon Brown was tough (59%)
and "has firm principles" (54%). That was more than the third (34%) who
felt David Cameron was tough.
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More than half (55%) though that David Cameron was too concerned with
public relations and spin compared to 46% who felt that about Gordon
Brown. Nearly two-thirds of those interviewed (64%) felt that Tony Blair was
too concerned with public relations and spin.
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Finally, more people thought Tony Blair was right about Iraq (22%) than
thought Gordon Brown was (17%). That compares with just over a quarter
(26%) who said David Cameron was right and almost a third (31%) who sided
with Ming Campbell.
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Notes to Editors
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The polling was carried out by Communicate Research on behalf of 91Èȱ¬
Newsnight. They telephoned 1,001 GB adults between 27 and 29 April
2007. Data was weighted to be demographically representative of all
adults.
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Communicate Research is a member of the British Polling Council
and abides by its rules.
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The same questions were asked about political
leaders by ICM on behalf of the 91Èȱ¬ five years ago and then every year
since except 2005.
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For further details see PDF document on the right-hand side of this page.
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