Nice party...for a protest vote
Populus's annual conference poll, in which they include questions they can publish before each of the three conferences, is one of the few times we can guarantee to get some questions asked about the Liberal Democrats. This year is no different.
On one front the poll has good news for them. It reveals a very positive party image, more people see them as caring than the other two parties, more people see them understanding the way people live their lives, being honest and principled and sharing people's values. On other measures like being united, having a good team of leaders and being competent they trail behind the Conservatives, but are ahead of Labour.
Less good, and one reason why the positive image doesn't translate into more votes, is that 65% of people agreed with the statement that
“It doesn't make any difference what policies the Lib Dems put forward because they have no realistic chance of ever putting them into practice, so ultimately they'll always be just a protest vote party at national level.". This included 37% of Lib Dem voters. 32% of people thought that “really strong distinctive policies on important issues, it will have a chance of making a big advance by gaining more MPs at the next election, because neither of the other parties is particularly appealing to most people”.
In considering why such positive perceptions of party aren't currently translating into more support in the polls, it's also worth looking back a bit into the past. While these are good figures and in many cases show a large positive shift when compared to the results of the same survey a year ago (particularly in being seen as honest & principled, caring about ordinary people and understanding the way people live their lives) in most cases they are still below the figures the Lib Dems recorded back in 2005 at the end of the Charles Kennedy era - 34% think they have a good team of leaders now, but 52% did in 2005; 50% think they are united now, but 71% did in 2005; 37% think they are competent now, but 46% did in 2005. The Lib Dems have a positive image, but not as positive as it was at the last election.
