Labour to hold Norwich South, according to poll
An opinion poll released today puts Charles Clarke ahead in the race to win Norwich South. The Ipsos MORI poll, commissioned by the Union of University of East Anglia (UEA) Students revealed some interesting voting intentions.
According to the poll, among those who are “absolutely certain to vote”, 39% say they would vote for Labour’s Charles Clarke, ahead of the Conservatives (20%), Liberal Democrats (19%) and the Greens (19%).
Support for Labour has changed little from the 2005 election result (up from 38% to 39%). The Conservatives are down slightly: from 22% in 2005 to 20%. By contrast, the Lib Dems, who came second in 2005 have seen their support drop from 30% to 19% with the Greens seeing an increase from 7% to 20%, according to Ipsos Mori analysts.
Commenting on the poll, Charles Clarke said: ”The only important poll is on May 6th, but Labour canvassers in Norwich South are reporting that support for Labour is holding up and it is obviously encouraging that this poll gives some independent corroboration of this assessment.”
Anthony Little, Conservative candidate for Norwich South said: “I am very interested by this poll, which shows the Conservatives as the main challenger to Charles Clarke at the next election. We’ve heard a lot from other parties about tactical voting. Maybe now we can tell the people of Norwich South to vote for the party whose policies they most believe in or whose candidate they most wish to see as our MP – a real choice for local people?
In response to the poll, Green Party candidate, Adrian Ramsay said: “This poll was done nearly a month ago, before the real campaigning began. Since then our support has really gained momentum. We have been winning over new supporters with our daily door-knocking across the constituency and our canvassing results suggest a close fight between Labour and the Green Party [...] Norwich could yet lead the way by electing a first Green MP who will be influential in a hung Parliament.”
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 801 adults in the Norwich South constituency aged 18 and over. Just over half said they were “absolutely certain to vote.” Interviews were conducted by telephone a month ago, in early March.
They also found that just 8% of those polled in the Norwich South constituency say universities should be allowed to charge higher student fees, which the Student’s Union see as a real boost to their campaign. Natasha Barnes, Union of UEA Student’s Communication’s Officer said: “We are absolutely delighted that we can count on the support of Norwich South residents when we tell election candidates not to put up university fees. Student debt is at its highest ever level and we want to see a system which is fair to potential students from all backgrounds.”
Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat candidate said: ”Students I speak to are turning to back the Liberal Democrats here in Norwich South as the main challengers to a Labour MP who implemented student top-up fees when he was Education Secretary. I am strongly opposed to all tuition fees and want more action to help graduates find employment.”
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