A ComRes poll of the 40 most marginal Conservative-Labour constituencies (ie. the areas where the traditional two-party battle ought to be fiercest) found that:
- 67% believe the rise of smaller parties such as UKIP and the Greens is good for democracy (against just 16% who support the opposite)
- 51% believe it is better to have several smaller parties than two big parties (against 27% who think the opposite)
- 50% believe the era of two parties dominating British politics is over (against 32% who think the opposite);
- 78% believe the Opposition should work with the government on issues they agree on;
- 54% believe Parliament works best when no party is too dominant so that cross-party agreement is needed to pass laws.
Date Published: 18/12/2014
Categories: Politics | Public and communities | UK
Client: Electoral Reform Society
Methodology
ComRes interviewed online a representative sample of 1,002 GB adults living in the 40 most marginal constituencies where the Conservatives and Labour shared first and second place between them at the last General Election in 2010. Of these 40 constituencies, 25 currently have a Conservative MP and 15 currently have a Labour MP. Each constituency is represented in the sample equally, with results weighted to be representative of all adults in all 40 constituencies as a whole. Data were also weighted by past vote recall. Fieldwork took place from 15th to 24th November 2014.