Dismal polls for Campbell

Monday, 17 September 2007 12:00 AM

Public confidence in Menzies Campbell's leadership appears to be at an all time low, despite the launch of Liberal Democrats conference in Brighton this weekend.

A YouGov poll conducted on behalf of the Sunday Times revealed 63 per cent of Lib Dem supporters believe the party would benefit from having a younger leader.

These ratings will make bitter reading for the Lib Dems at this critical juncture in the political calendar.

The Lib Dems launched their environmentally focussed conference this weekend

The event is likely to be dominated by climate change concerns, with delegates expected to endorse a package of radical green taxes today.

The poll testified to the general unease over Mr Campbell's age. Only four per cent of the 1,800 people polled thought Sir Menzies was the "most impressive" leader.

The other parties faired slightly better, with Labour retaining the overall lead with a 39 per cent approval ratings from voters. The 'Brown bounce' showed some signs of slowing with the prime minister's support down from last month to 62 per cent.

Regardless of Mr Brown's strong economic credentials, there were strong pockets of concern surrounding the instability in the financial market.

With five interest rate increases over the last year alone, 21 per cent of the public believed they would be under a lot of financial pressure over the coming year.

Following last week's report on the NHS from Derek Wanless - which claimed an unprecedented increase in investment had not produced qualitative outcomes in productivity - a considerable 19 per cent of those polled considered the health service had gotten "much worse" in recent years.

With these problems to face, it seems less likely the prime minister will call an early election this autumn.

Mr Brown still emerged as the "most impressive" leader with 39 per cent of the vote compared with 17 per cent for David Cameron.

There was some success for the Conservatives, as their general public support rose from 32 per cent to 34 per cent, while Labour slipped by three points.

The environmental report last week from the Conservative Quality of Life policy group - presented to Mr Cameron for review - received a mixed level of support.

Heavily taxing 4x4s and other gas-guzzlers gained an overwhelming 80 per cent approval, while over half of people disagreed with levying VAT on domestic and European flights.

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