Political Poll for The Independent

Voting intention and political attitudes conducted for The Independent

Date Published: 24 Jul 2011

Categories: Media | Politics | Public and communities | Social | UK

Description

Two out of three people believe that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation should be forced to dispose of its 39 per cent stake in BSkyB, according to a ComRes survey for The Independent.

 

Sixty five per cent of people agree that the phone hacking scandal shows that News Corp is not a “fit and proper” organisation to own any part of BSkyB, while 26 per cent disagree. Media regulator Ofcom is conducting a “fit and proper” test even though News Corp has scrapped plans to buy 100 per cent of BSkyB.

 

The poll suggests that the scandal has damaged David Cameron’s reputation more than that of the two other main party leaders but that voters also regard Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg less favourably.

 

One in three people (33 per cent) say the scandal made them less favourable towards Mr Cameron, while only 4 per cent say it made them more favourable towards him and 63 per cent that it made no difference.

 

While 10 per cent now regard Mr Miliband more favourably, 20 per cent view him less favourably and 70 per cent said the affair made no difference. Four per cent view Mr Clegg more favourably, 22 per cent less favourably and 74 per cent say their opinion has not changed.

The public is divided over whether Mr Cameron’s actions over the scandal make themquestion whether he has the right judgment and skills to be Prime Minister. Forty seven per cent agree, while 44 per cent disagree.

People still appear to have confidence in the police: only 29 per cent feel they do not trust them in the light of the scandal, while 64 per cent disagree with that statement. The public is split down the middle when asked whether most tabloid journalists are basically decent, honest people. Forty six per cent agree and 45 per cent disagree.

According to the survey, Labour enjoys a six-point lead over the Conservatives, its highest with ComRes since March. Labour is unchanged on 40 per cent since the last ComRes poll for TheIndependent on Sunday a week ago; the Tories on 34 per cent (down two points); the Liberal Democrats on 13 per cent (up three points) and others on 13 per cent (down one point).

ComRes telephoned a random sample of 1002GB adults on July 22-24^, 2011. Data were weighted demographically and by past vote recall.