What happened to those "others"?

One of the unanswered questions I mentioned in my round up before the conference was what the effect of support for others might be. When support for them increased earlier this year it impacted upon Labour and the Conservatives pretty equally, but what if it declined in a less even handed manner? Were those "others" disillusioned Labour supporters who wanted to protest against the government, but wouldn't vote elsewhere and, presumably, would therefore be more likely to go back to Labour? Were they anyone but Labour voters who were more likely to eventually coalesce around the Conservatives? Would they decline at all?

Well, that last question is perhaps a live one again now the expenses scandal has reared up again, but up to now the answer was certainly yes. The graph below shows the decline of "others" since the European election, compared to the fortunes of the main political parties. There are various ups and downs along the way (particularly the Lib Dem conference!) so I've added some trend lines to highlight the bigger picture.

Basically, support for the others has steadily fallen and as it has divided pretty evenly between Labour and the Conservatives, with little benefit for the Liberal Democrats. Labour in fact do very slightly better (their trendline has gone from 23% to 27%, the Conservatives from 38% to 41%), but on the whole their support has moved in parallel. The other vote appears was a plague on both the main parties houses when it appeared, and they seem to be recovering at an equal rate as it recedes.