YouGov: Tories 9% ahead

The Tory lead is up 1% to 9% according to a YouGov poll for tomorrow's Sunday Times.

The Conservatives have a 6% lead on who voters most trust to run the economy.  Economic pessimism is becoming deep.  50% of voters expect their incomes to deteriorate over the next year; only 12% expect them to improve.  Other highlights:

• By 44% to 27% respondents want Alistair Darling to quit as Chancellor;
• By 34% to 23% there is an expectation of lower house prices;
• Just 21% believe that non-doms should pay less tax because of the jobs they create;
• 73% say that MPs should be subject to the same surveillance/ bugging regime as the rest of us.

Comments

[Andrew Woodman]

Encouraging considering the amount of coverage Labour have had this week with their various gimmicks.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Good point Andrew. Also interesting that two months after Clegg's election the Lib Dems are making no progress at all.Has he really no ideas to put forward?

[Annabel Herriott]

Malcolm! Dont knock it! The limpdems have picked the very best leader - for us.

[Josh]

The LibDems aren't on 11%. That's progress.

[Philip]

Yes encouraging, but still lots of work to do. We need more of David Cameron being Prime-Ministerial and showing we’re ready to take responsibility for Government - this is happening as I seem to recall there have been some issues lately where we have taken the lead in proposing solutions and Labour has followed.

[Gloy Plopwell]

Quite. we lib dems are not on 11% like we were last october. Peopel really need to be more patient. How many times do I have to tell your party - we have stupendous momentum in the lib dems and we will win the general election.

[Yet Another Anon]

By 44% to 27% respondents want Alistair Darling to quit as Chancellor
Gordon Brown may well move him in a Summer reshuffle, maybe switching him and Ed Balls around, I'm sure Gordon Brown will strongly resist firing Alistair Campbell.

[asquith]

Agree, Gloy Popwell. Those who sneer at the LibDems will regret it when Liberal England returns.

[Buckinghamshire Tory]

That gave my sunday a good start.

[michael mcgough]

Tories unchanged but others up 1% from Labour;good news for the marginals perhaps.

[Richard Carey]

I'm sure Gordon Brown will strongly resist firing Alistair Campbell.

Freudian slip, perhaps, YAA?

Given their current performance, GB might be well-advised (if unlikely!) to re-hire him...

[Oscar Miller]

Have you noticed all the gossip about Darling moving over for Balls seemed to start shortly after Yvette Cooper was moved to the Treasury? Pure coincidence I'm sure.

[VJ Maurice]

Gordon Brown may well move him in a Summer reshuffle, maybe switching him and Ed Balls around

That doesn't really sound likely - Balls may be appointed Chancellor, but if so Darling would surely leave the cabinet. Any job other than Foreign or Home secretary would be a massive demotion. (Remember Norman Lamont understandably refused when John Major tried to move him to Environment. The Home Office would have been acceptable, but clearly Major wanted him to walk rather than be sacked.)

One option for Brown might be to swap Darling with Miliband. Seems to address the issue while at the same time landing his main rival for the leadership with a poisoned chalice.

[Tony Makara]

If Gordon Brown moves Cooper or Kelly into position as the new chancellor that could well become Gordon Browns defining 'Scott Carson' moment!

[Yet Another Anon]

Freudian slip, perhaps, YAA?
Yes, definitely a freudian slip - I can't really see Alastair Campbell getting into the cabinet, it's always possible he might get a peerage or stand for Labour at some point.

Given their current performance, GB might be well-advised (if unlikely!) to re-hire him
Labour backbenchers don't like Alastair Campbell and actually he isn't much liked by the general public either - he was very effective for Labour in opposition, but from Labour's first term on he started becoming the news - putting a spin on things can be very effective if people don't realise it's being done, years ago people started to get a bit fed up with the influence that Mandy and Mr Campbell had through the dark arts and so first Mandy and later Alastair Campbell ended up going.

Any job other than Foreign or Home secretary would be a massive demotion.
Children, Schools and Families is probably one of the bigger portfolios in the current government; since Gordon Brown moved to being PM the status of Chancellor of the Exchequer has gone down quite a bit, Gordon Brown already controlled most of the domestic agenda before June, now he's very much First Lord of the Treasury.

Departments change in priority due to changes in political importance of them - Tony Blair very much led on Foreign Affairs and with a Minister for Europe in the cabinet and with International Development having been seperated from FCO the position of Foreign Secretary was much less prominent than it had been in the time when Douglas Hurd or Malcolm Rifkind were in the role or even back in the days when Robin Cook was FCO Secretary.