Two thirds think most MPs are lining their pockets
YouGov's monthly poll for the Telegraph has topline voting intention figures, with changes from the YouGov poll for the Economist a week ago, of CON 40%(nc), LAB 33%(-1), LDEM 16% (nc). The Economist poll was taken just after the Northern Rock nationalisation and suggested that, while people thought Northern Rock had been badly handled, it certainly hadn't been a boost for the Conservatives - this poll seems to confirm that.
The Telegraph's other tracker questions like which party is best on the economy (the Conservatives lead by 3), who would make the best PM (Cameron by 2) and Gordon Brown's approval rating (minus 34) are all largely unchanged, though there is a significant drop the net proportion of people who think David Cameron is doing a good job - down from a net position of plus 11 to plus 2 this month.
Even up to two years away the likely pattern of the next election is pretty easy to discern - change vs risk. The Conservatives will be pushing a "time for change" message, Labour will be countering it with the message that people shouldn't risk electing the Tories. This month YouGov asked a question that mirrors that pattern - whether people thought the Conservatives would do better, the same, or worse than Labour if they were in power. 36% of people thought they would do better, and naturally enough are very likely to be voting Tory. 30% of people think they would be much the same - people who have no positive reason to vote Tory, but for whom a risk message would presumably not work. 27% think the Tories would do worse than Labour, none of these people say they would vote Tory.
YouGov also asked about the financial propriety of MPs, and the Speaker in particular. 66% of respondents agreed that most MPs made lots of money from improperly using public funds, 37% though most or all MPs were improperly claiming expences, with another 37% thinking many did. This suggests an overwhelming belief amongst members of the public that MPs are lining their own pockets.
For the Speaker specifically 55% thought he was abusing the system of Parliamentary allowances and 45% thought he should resign, compared to 28% who thought he should stay in office. When the full tables come out it will be interesting to see if that is a partisan response with Labour voers defending him (or indeed, given the Speaker's supporters belief that many of his opponents are driven by class snobbery, whther there is a difference between ABC1s and C2DEs).
