A surge in popularity for Balls: State of the Party – January 2011

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State of the PartyBy Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ed Balls is the big winner from this month’s “State of the Party” survey. Balls was already one of the most popular shadow cabinet members with LabourList readers (79% viewed him positively back in December), but his popularity has surged since he took on the shadow chancellor role – he’s now viewed positively by 91% of readers, making him by some distance the most popular shadow cabinet member. Andy Burnham (85%) and Yvette Cooper (84%) are also overwhelmingly well-regarded.

Similarly, Ed Miliband has had a good January, and has seen support swing back behind him after a difficult December. He is now considered to be doing an excellent job by 14% of readers (+2%) and a good job by 44% (+7%). The percentage of readers considering Miliband to be performing only “fair” or “poor” has declined over the last month.

There’s still some work to do for some of the less well known shadow cabinet members – over 50% of LabourList readers still have no view on eight members of the shadow cabinet – one more than in December, suggesting that some of the shadow cabinet are going backwards in terms of visibility. Shadow Scottish secretary Ann McKechin remains a mystery, with 85% of readers having no opinion of her, but shadow energy and climate change minister Meg Hillier is also something of an unknown – 81% of LabourList readers have formed no opinion of the Hackney South MP.

The battle for the hearts and minds of Labour supporters over AV is still close according to our survey. So far the Yes and No camps have taken turns at leading the way, but the No camp are back ahead this month, but only just, by 40% to 36%, with 22% of readers still undecided.

The economy/employment is still the most pressing issue for LabourList readers, with 80% of respondents listing it as a main area of interest. Other than that only education and health are backed by more than 50% of readers as key concerns.

492 LabourList readers voted in the survey, which ran from Thursday 27th – Monday 31st January. Thanks to all who took part.

Survey Results

How do you think Ed Miliband is performing as leader so far?

Excellent – 14.0%
Good – 44.4%
Fair – 28.1%
Poor – 13.5%

What are your overall impressions of each shadow cabinet member?
Positive Negative Don’t know
Harriet Harman 64.8 22.4 13.4
Yvette Cooper 84.2 6.5 9.8
Ed Balls 91.2 7.8 1.2
Sadiq Khan 52.7 21.1 26.8
Jim Murphy 35.3 11.6 53.7
John Denham 58.1 8.5 34.0
Douglas Alexander 71.5 10.7 18.6
John Healey 45.6 12.1 43.0
Andy Burnham 84.9 7.6 7.6
Caroline Flint 42.4 23.1 35.2
Maria Eagle 24.8 11.3 64.1
Meg Hillier 11.1 8.3 81.0
Mary Creagh 13.0 9.3 78.1
Liam Byrne 38.5 23.2 38.5
Shaun Woodward 17.9 21.8 61.1
Ann McKechin 7.7 7.7 84.6
Peter Hain 39.0 18.0 44.1
Ivan Lewis 18.2 11.3 71.1
Tessa Jowell 48.7 21.1 30.8
Angela Eagle 36.8 11.9 52.1
Rosie Winterton 22.1 10.1 67.8
Hilary Benn 46.4 9.3 44.7

How will you vote in next year’s AV referendum?

Yes (In favour of AV) – 35.7%
No (Against AV / In favour of current system) – 39.8%
Don’t know – 21.5%
Won’t vote – 3.1%

Do you support some form of primary for selecting Labour Party candidates?

Yes – 49.5%
No – 34.2%
Don’t Know – 16.4%

What are your main areas of interest?

Response Percent
Crime / Justice 29.1%
Culture 24.1%
Economy / Employment 79.6%
Education 66.5%
Electoral Reform 18.7%
Environment / Climate Change 32.4%
Equality 49.9%
Families 22.5%
Health 52.2%
Housing 43.0%
International Development 19.5%
International Relations 26.0%
Immigration 13.1%
Parliamentary / Constitutional Reform 25.6%
Party Democracy 31.6%
Taxation 34.5%
Transport 28.7%
Unions 30.8%
Workers’ Rights 43.7%

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