Lib Dems Seem To Benefit Most From Hackgate

Yesterday was another extraordinary day in the ‘Hackgate’ scandal. David Cameron had to make a statement to the House of Commons regarding the hacking scandal as well as his judgement in hiring Andy Coulson as his spin doctor. On Tuesday we saw the Emperor himself being thrown to the Select Committee lions as Rupert Murdoch eat humble pie (pun very much intended). Speculation is rife as to whether the Murdochs will retain leadership of their company and whether David Cameron will retain the leadership of the country. Now there are concerns over whether the PM and Rupert Murdoch discussed the now failed BSkyB bid. Although Vince Cable must be punching the air. Perhaps, there are more questions in hindsight as to whether or not the PM should have stripped the BSkyB bid from Dr.Cable’s judgement.

After all the scandal and revelations of late, which political party comes out of it best? Well according to the voting intention polling data that political party appears to be the Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dems have seen an increase in support for them recently. This seems to be mostly at the expense of the Labour who has seen a dip in their support in recent days, whereas the Conservatives have only seen a gradual decline. The other parties have also seen an increase in support.

The most recent polls of the major polling organisations:

Com Res         14^th July           Con   36% (-1%)      Lab   40% (+3%)      LD   10% (-1%)

Populus           17^th July           Con   34% (-5%)      Lab   39% (-1%)       LD   11% (+2%)

ICM                17^th July           Con   37% (nc)         Lab   36% (-3%)       LD   16% (+4%)

Ipsos MORI    20^th July           Con   32% (-5%)      Lab   39% (nc)          LD   11% (nc)

You Gov         20^th July           Con   35% (-1%)      Lab   43% (nc)          LD   11% (+3%)

(Source: http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/)

Yes these are only modest climbs in the Lib Dem poll rating and yes both Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband have seen increases in both of their popularities due to their handlings of the hacking crisis. However according to this recent polling data the Lib Dems have made the most gains of the three main parties. This rise in Lib Dem support may be a reflection of the fact that they have consistently opposed the influence of Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation and News International unlike Labour and the Conservatives. We will have to wait and see if this trend of the increase in Lib Dem support continues.