Voters shun main parties - poll

Monday, 18 May 2009 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

Voters are abandoning mainstream political parties in the wake of the expenses scandal, a new poll shows.

Data from the Daily Telegraph - the newspaper whose revelations have brought about the current crisis in Westminster - shows 'other' parties gaining nine of the ten percentage points lost by Labour and the Conservatives this month.

The Tories slipped six points to 39 per cent while Labour were down four to 23 per cent, the Telegraph/YouGov survey suggested.

Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats were the only main party to gain, climbing one point to 19 per cent.

But it was the nine-point gain for other parties, which now equal the Lib Dems on 19 per cent, which proved the most significant.

It reinforces the growing impression the public are abandoning the traditional parties as the expenses shadow continues to hang over Westminster.

Voters at June 4th's European elections appear likely to be backing Norman Tebbit's call to do exactly that, the Telegraph poll suggests.

It places Nigel Farrage's UK Independence party (Ukip) in third place on 16 per cent, two points ahead of the Lib Dems.

The Conservatives are on 26 per cent and Labour 21 per cent.

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