Labour Grassroots Survey: May Results
A Labourhome.org survey of 330 party activists has illustrated the extent of the challenge Gordon Brown faces in order to rebuild confidence in his leadership.This is the first Labour Grassroots Survey and we will be tracking perception of Labour's Cabinet Ministers. The key figure each month will be the change from previous months, however, these figures show a severe denting of confidence in some of Labour's leading figures.
Respondents were asked how they would rate the Cabinet on a scale of 1-10 and the scores are in the table above.
The poll closed before the announcement yesterday of the increase in the Basic Rate Tax threshold, so includes none of the effect of that decision, however, it is notable that while Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown himself languish beneath all other Cabinet colleagues, David Miliband, Alan Johnson, Hilary Benn and Jack Straw, all feasible future leaders of the Labour Party, monopolise the top of the Cabinet rankings. Even fifth placed John Denham is widely respected and could be seen as a future leadership contender. Ed Balls, also seen to be positioning himself for the succession, is rated in the lower half of the table, just above Defense Secretary Des Brown, who it is rumoured faces a deshuffling in favour of John Hutton.
11.20% Winning back the middle classes
33.00% Shoring up the core vote
19.40% Successfully managing the economy
6.10% Attacking the Conservatives
30.00% Something else
Under "something else" we received a range of responses, including...
"Speaking clearly, stopping headline grabbing ill thought through policies and better vetting of civil servants"
"BRING BACK THE 10P TAX RATE & GET TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ"\
"getting a new leader"
"Both shoring up the core vote and regaining the middle classes would be nice. Must we accept a contradiction here?"
"We need to rebuild the 1997 coalition by reconnecting with progressive voters of all classes."
"less of the " we must do the right thing for the country" and more populist policies. Give people the choice to cut taxes or services. You cannot have both and people need to accept this."
"enforce the 2004 Hunting Act and expose David Cameron who would bring back hunting with dogs"
"Animal welfare"
"reinforcing support for the underpivileged, unemployed, working poor"
"increase taxation on people earning over £30,000 to improve public services"
"giving the people the promised EU constitutional referendum"
"New chancellor for the exchequer. Stronger government."
"Listening government. Developing genuine involvement of the electorate in decision making."
"Coming up with a coherent and popular policy platform"
"Staying the new labour triangulation course, introducing new policies to create a narrative of change"
"Get back to what we believe in and people will return. Do not approach it the other way around, trying to figure out what people want to hear 'to win back the middle classes.' Set the agenda, make the argument, CONVINCE PEOPLE, rather than flip-flop."
"Organisation and unity behind the leader of the party"
"Need to steer the economy to safety and establish how our 'vision' and policies are different to the Tories"
"Doing the right thing. Exclusively. Forget triangulation. Sell solidarity and opportunity and fairness."
"Being sociaist i.e .redistribution of wealth"
"Stop attacking our core vote and stop trying to outflank the Tories on the right. Retain the centre left ground."
"Getting rid of the clique at the top- bring back some convincing figures like Reid and promote good Ministers like Coaker"
"Progressive epochal reform - Proportional Representation."
"Improve Party Discipline"
"Show the average person that we care about their welfare and how we will help them avoid the pinch."
"winning back the many, many people who are deserting us in despair over decisions such as nuclear power, Heathrow, 42 days and Trident"
"Publicising it's achievements and the work ahead whilst constantly attacking the Tories"
"change polices introduce more progressive taxation and halt privatisation including academy schools and foundation hospital."
"A new vision - a new crusade for Labour in the 21st century. Big thinking."
"Exchanging 'what's in it for me?' for 'how can we live together?'"
"Introduce serious measures to re-regulate financial institutions, and sell it by emphasising that, this way, Britain can avoid serious crises. Point out the Conservatives want to give more freedom to banks - ensuring a crisis like this will happen in the future, only worse."
"Addressing the concerns of poor white semi-skilled worker"
"Listen to grassroots members/councillors & actually take notice"
"Asserting a basic belief in prioritising the needs of the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable"
The next question we asked was how motivated people are, on a scale of 1-10, to campaign for Labour. Again, this is a tracking question, so it will be most interesting to see how it changes over time, but the average rating was 4.99 out of 10.
Our fourth question was, "What message would you send to the Labour hierarchy, given the party's performance on May 1st?". We'll collate these responses and post a briefing later today.
Overall, the polls say we are at our lowest ebb for 26 years. Next month's survey will be provide a valuable comparison which will take into account the impact of the tax threshold changes and the Crewe by-election result.


