Duncan Smith, Gove, Hague, Pickles and Hammond top Cabinet league table
By Tim Montgomerie
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At the end of November ConservativeHome conducted the latest Cabinet rankings survey and I apologise for not publishing it before now. Anyhow, here it is (percentage satisfied minus those dissatisfied):
- Iain Duncan Smith: +86%
- Michael Gove: +77%
- William Hague: +73%
- Eric Pickles: +60% (back up the table again - and deservedly so according to Paul Goodman)
- Philip Hammond: +44% (can this survive the painful defence cuts that are looming?)
- Patrick McLoughlin: +42%
- Owen Paterson: +41% (his interview in yesterday's Telegraph led The Express' Patrick O'Fylnn to declare the DEFRA Secretary as the new leader of the traditional Tory Right)
- Chris Grayling: +40% (down a little - perhaps because of his legally-careful positioning on the ECHR?)
- Lord Strathclyde: +36%
- Theresa May: +33% (no signs of adverse impact of poor turnout in Commissioner elections or extradition frustrations... and still the only woman in the Cabinet top ten)
- Grant Shapps: +30%
- Sir George Young: +29% (the new Chief Whip is a return entry but with noticeably lower ratings than when he was Leader of the House for some reason)
- David Willetts: +25%
- Francis Maude: +24% (continues to consolidate his position - perhaps because of his dry-as-dust fiscally conservative record in Whitehall)
- Danny Alexander: +23% (still the Tories' favourite Lib Dem... which probably won't help him keep his Scottish seat)
- Maria Miller: +25% (a small improvement perhaps reflecting her rising Newsnight and Leveson-related profile)
- Andrew Lansley: +18%
- Theresa Villiers: +15%
- David Jones: +14%
- Jeremy Hunt: +10% (this poll was conducted before Leveson exonerated the former Culture Secretary - see my remarks at the end of this post)
- Oliver Letwin: +9%
- Michael Moore: +6%
- David Cameron: +5%
- George Osborne: -1% (this poll was conducted BEFORE the Autumn Statement)
- Justine Greening: -2% (this is an improvement from last time's in my opinion unfair rating of -14% - the improvement might reflect the Development Secretary's tough line on aid to India)
- Ken Clarke: -10%
- Ed Davey: -40% (another slide in the Climate Change Secretary's ratings - perhaps suggesting Tory members prefer the John Hayes approach... although a new 'Turquoise Group' of Tory MPs is warning the PM against an anti-windfarm posture)
- Vince Cable: -56% (the Business Secretary is up to his old tricks today, accusing George Osborne of demonising the unemployed).
- Nick Clegg: -58% (perhaps Tory members don't like the way he demonises his critics or perhaps they just have an "irrational phobia" towards him?)
Boris Johnson's rating is +90%.
See the previous ratings.
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