Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat party have enjoyed almost unprecedented media coverage and popularity since last Thursday’s momentous TV debate. Clegg was unilaterally crowned the victor of the ‘domestic policy’ debate (and YouGov was first to do this, less than eight minutes after the credits rolled), and the most recent YouGov/Sun poll shows the Lib Dems (31%) as remaining above Labour (29%), but just behind the Conservatives (33%). Attention has now turned to how exactly this huge increase in popularity might affect the polls come May 6th. By many calculations, should the current levels of support continue, Clegg’s party will still only win around 100 seats because of the way Lib Dem support is concentrated throughout the country – there are only a few marginal constituencies in which they have any strength at all.
It seems that the public are inclined to agree that Clegg’s increased popularity may not last. When asked how they think the increased support for the Liberal Democrats is likely to play out as the election approaches, only 34% thought the party would enjoy lasting popularity. 52% were more sceptical, proposing that the support will soon prove to be a ‘flash in the pan’ as Clegg’s policies come under closer scrutiny. Given the impressive change in the tides of popularity that occurred after last Thursday’s debate, perhaps we’ll only have to wait the two days until the next debate to find out.
