Poll boost for Howard's Tories

Last updated at 12:09 09 November 2004


Michael Howard has been given an opinion poll boost as he celebrates his first year in charge of the Conservatives.

A Populus poll showed a significant recovery in both his personal rating, and that of his party.

The poll, undertaken over the weekend, put Labour on 34 per cent of the vote (down one point), and the Tories on 33 per cent - a five per cent rise for Mr Howard's party since early October.

However, the Tories' previous rating of 28 per cent was unusually low because that poll was undertaken at the end of the Labour conference week and after the Tories had come fourth in the Hartlepool by-election.

The Liberal Democrats were on 22 per cent, down three points.

Leader ratings are measured on a 10-point scale and in the new poll Mr Howard scored 4.54, up from 4.15 a month ago.

His rating remained behind that of Mr Blair - who scored 4.85, but the Prime Minister's figure was down sharply from the 5.31 figure of the previous month.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy recorded the best personal score, with a figure of 4.87.

• Populus interviewed 1,504 adults by telephone from across the country for the poll, which was commissioned by The Times.

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