Miliband sees poll ratings slump

Ed Miliband has suffered a slump in his poll ratings
18 August 2013

Labour leader Ed Miliband has suffered a slump in his poll ratings after a summer of sniping over his leadership from within his own ranks.

A ComRes poll for The Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror showed just 22% thought he was doing a good job compared to 50% who did not.

It gave him an overall personal approval rating of minus 28 - a 17 point fall since May - representing his worst showing in a ComRes poll .

The findings put him virtually level-pegging with David Cameron on minus 27, a drop of two points.

Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott has become the latest senior party figure to voice concern that Labour was not getting its message through to voters.

Writing in his column in the Sunday Mirror, he said they had "massively failed" to get its case across to the public and hold the Conservatives to account over the summer. He urged Mr Miliband to follow the example of former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and get rid of under-performing members of his shadow cabinet team.

"If shadow cabinet members aren't pulling their weight, give them the hairdryer treatment and kick 'em out," he wrote. "Time is running out. We can still turn it around and win in the second half. But we need the very best team, week in, week out."

Overall the position of the main parties shows little change with Labour up one point since last month on 37% and the Conservatives unchanged on 28%.

The UK Independence Party continues to enjoy strong support with 19% - a one point rise - while the Liberal Democrats trail a distant fourth on 8%.

:: ComRes interviewed 2,001 GB adults online on August 14 and 15.

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