EXCLUSIVE: Popularity boost for Jack Straw
- Opinions of Israel and USA down
- Blair's job approval at new low
- Popularity boost for Jack Straw after criticism of Israel
Below are the latest findings from YouGov's daily political tracker polls, conducted as part of their Brandindex surveys. Opinions of Israel have continued to fall since the last report - their net positive/negative impression is now down to minus 50 from minus 45 a fortnight ago and minus 41 prior to the present hostilities with Hezbollah. Compare this to Iran on minus 60, the lowest rated country out of those tracked by YouGov - and it's worth noting that a large part of the difference is due to the fact that a very stable 5% of respondents always say they have a positive opinion of Israel, while hardly anyone says they have a positive view of Iran. Opinions of the US have also dropped, down from minus 25 before the conflict to minus 34 now.
Given the public's hostility to Israel's actions this should come as little surprise. What is more interesting in the domestic arena is how the responses of British politicians have gone down with the public.
Tony Blair's ratings have unsurprisingly fallen - bottoming out at a net job approval of minus 38 following his meeting with President Bush on the 27th July. On the questions asking about positive or negative impressions of politicians, Tony Blair now has the most negative net rating of any of the politicians tracked. The wider image of the Labour party has also suffered, the percentage of people saying that the Labour party “stands up for Britain's interests” has fallen to 17%, while the proportion of people saying they “represent the interests of people like me” has dropped to 14%. The percentage of people thinking that Labour are the most trustworthy party on Britain's relations with the rest of the world has dropped from 24% to 17%.
The responses of the main opposition parties doesn't seem to have had much effect. The proportion of people who think the Liberal Democrats have the best party on dealing with foreign affairs has risen marginally - up 2 points from 8% to 10% - but Menzies Campbell certainly hasn't benefited: his net job approval is down to minus 24. In contrast David Cameron's job approval is up to plus 15 from his low of plus 11.
I suspect neither of these changes has any connection with the two mens' comment (or lack of comment) on the events in Lebanon. Rather Campbells' decline is the fading of the boost he received after the Liberal Democrats' near miss in Bromley, while Cameron's rise is the fading of the negative effect of his "hug-a-hoodie" speech.
The one man whose reputation has benefited from his response to the conflict in Lebanon is, rather surprisingly, the former foreign secretary Jack Straw. After publicly criticising the actions of Israel public perceptions of Straw rose markedly - his net postive/negative perceptions went up from minus 21 to minus 12, making him suddenly one of the most popular members of the government. Like his predecessor as foreign secretary publicly dissenting from Blair’s foreign policy is making Straw popular – the difference is that, unlike Robin Cook, Straw remains a member of the government.
