Govt approval and where those Lib Dems have gone

Peter Kellner has a new commentary on the government's approval ratings on the YouGov website here, looking at some of the cross-breaks behind the approval figures.

The decline from their peak at around the time of the budget, when 48% approved and 27% disapproved, is indeed largely down to Labour voters who had been suspending judgement now expressing their disapproval of the government. Approval of the government amongst Conservative voters remains strong (from 80% in June to 84% now), but looking at Labour supporters, 79% now say they disapprove of the government's record with only 6% approving. In comparison, in mid-June only 51% of Labour voters had disapproved and 14% had approved.

Amongst Liberal Democrat supporters 53% approve of the government's record, 19% disapprove and 28% don't know. This is, however, amongst remaining Lib Dem supporters - amongst those people who voted Lib Dem at the 2010 election only 40% approve of the government's record with 36% disapproving. It's just that a lot of those former Lib Dem voters who disapprove of the coalition's performance would no longer vote Lib Dem in an election tomorrow.

On that subject, we've also looked at the current voting intentions of people who say they voted Lib Dem at the general election, finding some support for the assumption that they've disproportionately shifted over to Labour. Only 46% of those claiming to have voted LibDem in 2010 say they would vote Lib Dem tomorrow, with 18% saying they would vote Labour, 8% Conservative, 5% other parties and 18% saying don't know or wouldn't vote.