After beating his brother to the coveted post of Labour party leader by a margin of 1.3% Ed Miliband needed to make a convincing speech at the Labour conference after his win, and our results show that while the British public generally supports Ed’s ideas, people are divided over whether Ed represents a ‘good thing’ for Labour.
- 50% of people think that Ed Miliband will do well as leader compared to the 24% who think he will do badly. A sizeable proportion (26%) doesn’t know.
- In his speech at the Labour party conference, Ed Miliband spoke of the need to change the direction of the Labour party, and the biggest percentage (36%) of people think that Ed will change the party for the better
- Only 12% believe he will worsen the party’s standing
- But 35% doubt Ed that will make any real change at all.
‘Lurch to the left’?
- 24% believe that Labour has moved to the Left by electing Ed Miliband as leader, and that this is a bad thing
- Compared to the 21% who think that Labour has moved to the Left but that this is a good thing
- 17%, however, think that the suggestion that Ed will move the party left is completely ‘untrue’
- The biggest percentage, however, was of people who don’t know (39%)
Past policies and new promises
- 71% of the public thought Ed was right to admit that the last Government had made mistakes
- 65% thought that Ed was right to say he would not support ‘irresponsible’ strikes against cuts
- 74% supported his policy of enforcing a higher levy on banks
- 61% agreed that a policy of giving more employment rights to temporary workers employed through agencies was right
- While 72% thought introducing a higher minimum wage was a good idea. Harriet Harman admitted today that the Miliband brothers’ saga had caused the Labour conference to be a ‘real rollercoaster’. There are likely to be plenty more highs and lows ahead as Ed Miliband’s ‘new generation’ attempts to re-invigorate Labour.Survey details and full results
