By 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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