More people are now noticing a negative rather than positive campaign message from Labour
Since the beginning of the election campaign YouGov has been tracking opinion on what people are noticing about the Labour and Conservative 'air war' – their message at the national rather than local level.
The volume has been higher with the Conservative campaign – on average 40% have noticed something about the party since March 31, while it's 37% for Labour. But the Tory campaign has consistently been perceived as more negative than positive, at net -8 on average compared to Labour's -1.
In the past ten polls, however, Labour's campaign has had only one net positive and two neutral ratings. In the last four, the gap between Labour and Conservative net negativity has closed to 3.
Today the message from both parties has moved back to safe and deterrent ground, as the Conservatives warn UKIP and apathetic Tory voters not to let in the opposition, and Labour sound the alarm on the NHS under David Cameron. Gordon Brown has echoed the Conservatives' battle with UKIP in the south, cautioning voters against a protest vote: “That’s the choice on Thursday: the SNP making a noise, or Labour making a difference.”
