Tory members approve of Coalition by more than three-to-one

Despite saying they preferred minority government last week, 69% of 2,143 Tory members surveyed yesterday agreed that "The Coalition is, overall, a good thing for the nation." 20% disagreed with 11% saying they didn't know.

The vote was much closer when we asked "The Coalition is, overall, a good thing for the Conservative Party." 49% agreed it was a good thing. 34% disagreed.

47% expect the Coalition to last for more than two years but 3% think it won't last more than six months. Another 16% think it will be over by the end of the year. 27% think it will last between 12 and 24 months.

We also tested some of the appointments to the Coalition Cabinet and even the Liberal Democrat appointments won the support of Tory members. The blue line in the chart above records disapproval and the purple line approval.

The least popular appointment was that of Chris Huhne to the Energy and Climate Change briefing. Huhne won 47% for his appointment - the only one to fall below 50%. 54% of Tory members approved of Vince Cable's appointment. 68% of Danny Alexander's appointment and 72% of David Laws' appointment as George Osborne's deputy at the Treasury. By appointing Laws, the Conservatives have succeeded in tying the LibDems into the austerity era; It was David Laws in the Treasury with the scissors.

William Hague's appointment is the most popular appointment. 96% approve. The appointments of Gove, IDS and Fox also score more than 90% approval.

Other survey results will be published later today.

Tim Montgomerie