Lib Dems drop to 7%

Anthony WellsHead of European Political and Social Research
January 07, 2011, 7:58 PM GMT+0

Our latest voting intention figures for the Sun show the Conservatives at 39%, Labour at 43% and the Liberal Democrats at just 7%.

This is the lowest score we've shown so far for the Liberal Democrats, and the lowest level of support they've received in any national poll from any company since the Summer of 1990, over 20 years ago. Of course all polls are subject to a margin of error, and if the true level of Lib Dem support is 8% or 9%, then this 7% is no more unusual than the 10% we saw yesterday. Nevertheless, it will be a further blow to Lib Dem morale.

Today's poll also saw overall Government approval drop to its lowest net score since the election, down to -20. 33% said they approved of the government's performance, 53% disapproved. While the overwhelming majority (85%) of Conservative voters approve of the government's record, Lib Dem voters are more wary - only 40% said they approved of the Government's record, 33% disapproved. These, of course, are the remaining Liberal Democrat voters - amongst the larger group of people who voted Liberal Democrat back in May 2010 60% disapprove of the Government's record so far.

It is plausible that the drop in approval is related to the recent increase in VAT. Our latest polling shows 62% of people disagree with the decision to increase VAT (25% support it), and 48% of people think it will damage the economy (25% think it will help).

See the survey details and full results