David Cameron

Mixed messages in Cameron poll

Mixed messages in Cameron poll

The British people appear impressed by David Cameron’s leadership of the Conservatives but tentative about his party’s policies, two polls suggest.

A ComRes poll for the Independent newspaper found 46 per cent believe Mr Cameron is ready to be prime minister, with 42 per cent disagreeing.

But nearly half thought the Tories “don’t have clear enough policies for me to understand what they stand for”.

A separate YouGov poll for the Telegraph saw half believing Mr Cameron is a “lightweight”, with 44 per cent judging him to be out of touch with ordinary people and 39 per cent describing him as “somewhat shallow”.

However only 45 per cent said they viewed him as decisive. Nearly four out of five attributed former prime minister Tony Blair with that quality in 1997, when he won a landslide election against John Major’s Tory government.

Despite the mixed messages attached to Mr Cameron’s leadership, the ComRes poll suggests the public are broadly behind the Tory leader.

Over half said they thought the Conservatives were ready to govern. Tellingly for morale on the other side of the political divide, 23 per cent of Labour supporters agreed.