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LONDON: Only one in six voters believes the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government will survive until the 2015 elections, with the proportion expecting a collapse within two years almost doubling in just two weeks, a Guardian/ICM poll showed on Monday.
The coalition, formed in 2010, has endured a rough year confronted with a shrinking economy and growing disagreements over policies such as the agreement to reform the House of Lords and Britain's relationship with the rest of Europe.
The findings came after conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg held a Downing Street dinner on Friday amid mounting tensions about the health of the coalition.
Cameron and Clegg insist their parties will see their term through in order to complete what they came together for-slash a budget deficit that was around 160 billion pounds, more than 11% of GDP, when the 2010 elections were held.
With Britain in the midst of a double dip recession and the Bank of England forecasting zero GDP growth this year, the Lib Dems are considering a rethink on chancellor George Osborne's militant deficit reduction programme.
Most commentators say the parties would do best to stay together and hope the economy improves enough by 2015 to claim their policies are responsible. ICM Research interviewed a sample of 2,021 adults aged 18-plus online on 8 to 9 August 2012.
On Sunday, a YouGov survey put Labour's support on 42%, with the Conservatives on 34% and Lib Dems on 8%.
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Labels: World
