The June poll for The Guardian shows a drop in support for both of the main two parties, but the lead remaining stable at a 5-point advantage for Labour. The standing of the parties is Labour 39% (-2), Conservatives 34% (-2), Liberal Democrats 14% (+3) and Others 13% (-).
The Conservatives will be pleased to be holding the Labour lead to only 5-points after a rather troubled period in which the word “omnishambles” has been ubiquitously used; the downward pressure on their vote share seems to have rooted them at around the mid-30s mark which is neither too far from their 2010 election score nor a disastrous number for a mid-term government. Likewise, the Liberal Democrats will be pleased to have moved away from the calamitous 11-point share identified in last month’s poll.
With the Rio de Janeiro summit on the environment on the Prime Minister’s agenda this month, there might be some concern on his part that public opinion has not particularly moved on climate since the Copenhagen summit three years ago. The government has backing away from its environmental agenda in case it hinders economic growth, premising its action on the fact that public opinion is no longer as concerned as it was about climate change. But the lack of substantive change in this dataset suggests they might be wrong to do so. Climate change remains a serious issue for the British public and it sacrificing it on the altar of growth may have more repercussions than they imagine.
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Guardian Poll – June 2012 (PDF)
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