Polling suggests that people prefer a majority government over a hung parliament – but maybe that's because they imagine their own preferred party being the majority
Using First Verdict, I presented 3,667 people with a forced choice between "a clear Labour victory" and "a cobbled-together pact of several other parties" – and it split 45% to 55%. Between "a clear Conservative victory" and that pact of "several other parties" the split was an almost identical 47% to 53%.
So indeed, by a tiny margin, people actually prefer a coalition to a majority rather than the "wrong" party winning outright.
I went on to ask: "If the outcome of this election is a constitutional mess with no party having clear legitimacy to govern, which of these do you prefer?" and offered just two options – 42% preferred "back-room horse-trading to get something that might work" versus 58% who opted for "a second election".
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