Lib Dems honour Coalition while Tories have more to gain - Anthony Wells reveals what voters think
Following the abandonment of the House of Lords reform and Nick Clegg's announcement that the Liberal Democrats will consequently vote against boundary changes supported by the Conservatives, more people think that the Liberal Democrats have kept to their side of the Coalition agreement than the Conservatives, our poll shows.
Overall, the majority of Britons feel the Conservatives have gained the most from the Coalition, compared to under one quarter who think the Lib Dems have benefitted most from the joint government.
- Overall 52% of people think that the Conservatives have gained more from the Coalition compared to 23% who think the Liberal Democrats have done better from the deal
- Only 30% of people think the Conservatives have kept to their side of the Coalition deal, 51% of people think they have not
- 45% of people think that the Liberal Democrats have kept to their side of the Coalition deal, 32% of people think they have not
- The majority (68%) of Conservative supporters think their party has kept to their side of the deal, and Tory supporters think the Liberal Democrats have delivered on their side of the deal by 44% to 36%.
- Liberal Democrat supporters clearly feel their party has been treated less fairly - 75% think their own party has kept their side of the deal, but only 24% think the Conservatives have delivered theirs.
Asked about the future of the current Coalition Government, almost half of people still expect it to last until the next election or shortly before it (47%), which is slightly down from 54% when we asked the same question last month. Meanwhile, 20% of people now think that the Coalition will come to an end within the next year, up from 12% in July.
When asked how long they would like the Coalition to continue, 48% of people now say they would like it to end immediately. This includes 26% of Conservative supporters and 22% of Liberal Democrat supporters.
