Baby bounces

Anthony WellsHead of European Political and Social Research
August 26, 2010, 6:02 PM GMT+0

Following the birth of David Cameron's baby daughter on Tuesday, there was also positive news for the Prime Minister in our daily polling figures. Having briefly dropped into negative figures earlier in the week, net government approval is back up to +3. The latest voting intention figures show the Conservative lead back up to five points, with the Tories on 42%, Labour on 37% and Liberal Democrats on 12%.

The changes are too small to conclude there has definitely been a 'baby bounce' - e.g. an increase largely due to Samantha Cameron having given birth to the couple's daughter, Florence Rose Endellion, on August 25th. Historically, personal news stories like births, marriages and family tragedies have sometimes improved party leaders' personal approval ratings, but haven't usually translated into changes in voting intention.