Poor poll rating heaps pressure on UK opposition leader Miliband
Reuters
Published Nov 09, 2014 08:11AM ET
Poor poll rating heaps pressure on UK opposition leader Miliband
By William James
LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, faced fresh pressure on Sunday as a poll showed backing for his leadership among party supporters had fallen sharply, days after he was forced to dismiss rumors of a plot to oust him.
A YouGov poll found that the number of Labour voters who believed Miliband was fit to be prime minister had fallen to 34 percent, down from 51 percent in October. Forty two percent said they thought he was unsuitable for the job, up from 28 percent in October.
Despite Labour holding a narrow opinion poll lead six months before a parliamentary election, Miliband's personal ratings are at an all-time low amid criticism of his image and his handling of key electoral topics such as immigration and the economy.
"His biggest task is to persuade people he has the gravitas to be prime minister, I think this is his biggest personal failing in terms of the public," YouGov President Peter Kellner told the BBC.
The YouGov poll, published in the Sunday Times, asked just under 500 people who had voted for Labour in 2010 whether they thought Miliband was up to the job of prime minister. The full results of the poll, which surveyed 2,022 people, put Labour on 33 percent overall, level with Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives.
Miliband's future dominated the front pages of Britain's Sunday newspapers with the Observer reporting that 20 unnamed members of his team wanted a change of leader.
On Thursday, after similar reports of Labour members of parliament plotting to depose him, Miliband said speculation about his leadership was "nonsense", and on Friday the party's campaign co-ordinator urged the party to unite or risk losing the election.
Miliband's former chief of staff, Lucy Powell, criticized the anonymous lawmakers calling for his head.
"What I would say to those people is 'be careful what you wish for'", she told BBC radio. She called the anonymous briefing "cowardly", and said it risked distracting the party from its election campaign.
(Editing by Aidan Martindale)
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.