ITV News Cuts Index

Latest ITV News Cuts Index published 11 May 2011.

Date Published: 10 May 2011

Categories: Economy | Politics | Public and communities | UK

Description

A ComRes/ ITV News poll shows public confidence in Nick Clegg and Coalition Government at record low

On the first anniversary of the Coalition Government, an ITV News/ ComRes poll reveals overwhelmingly negative opinions of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

The poll, conducted by ComRes and to be broadcast on ITV News at Ten, found a majority of the population (82%) says they do not/ don't know whether to trust Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. In addition, less than a quarter of people (24%) believe he's a good leader for his party; one in every three (33%) think he should quit as party leader, and almost two in every three (59%) believe he has overseen a sell-out of LibDem principals.

Nick Clegg’s trust score is the lowest since the ITV News/ ComRes tracker began in October 2010. 63% say they do not trust the Deputy Prime Minister to see the UK through the current economic situation, while 19% say they are not sure. Just one in five (19%) say they do trust him. This is his lowest score since last October, when 34% did trust him. In October 2010, 39% said they did not trust him - a difference of 24 percentage points compared to this week’s results - while 27% were unsure.

Just one in four (24%) believe that he has proved himself to be a good leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, while half (50%) disagree and think he has not. One third of those asked (33%) feel he should resign as leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and almost two thirds (59%) believe that, by going into coalition with the Conservative party, the Liberal Democrats appear to have sold out on their principles.

In comparison, when asked about trusting politicians to see the country through the current economic situation, 76% do not trust (50%) or are not sure (26%) if they trust Chancellor George Osborne, while one in four (25%) agree that they do. Meanwhile, 38% agree that Prime Minster David Cameron can be trusted. 48% disagree and 15% are not sure.

Half of the British people (49%) believe that the Coalition is bad for Britain. This percentage has been steadily increasing since November of last year, when the figure stood at 33%. More than half of the population (53%) agree that the Coalition's record so far is disappointing.

Showing lack of faith in the current government, less than one in three (28%) expect the Coalition to last the full five years.