The Liberal Democrat dilemma

The most recent opinion poll from ICM asked, “Who would you say you trust more to take the right decisions on the economy to ensure a prosperous future? The Conservative/Lib Dem coalition led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg or the Labour party led by Ed Miliband?”

Overall there was a healthy lead for the coalition – 44% to 30% – with little sign of a honeymoon for Ed Miliband’s leadership. Amongst Conservative and Liberal Democrat voters the margin was, as you would expect, even higher (91%-3% and 70%-17% respectively).

However, amongst people who said they voted Liberal Democrat at the general election that 70%-17% margin dropped to 48%-31%. Supporters of the Liberal Democrats from May still overall prefer the coalition to the Labour Party, but with less than half backing the coalition it is no surprise that overall support for the party has fallen noticeably since the general election.

In other words, the coalition may be the most popular choice by some margin with Lib Dem supporters – but it’s not popular enough. That’s the Liberal Democrat dilemma facing Nick Clegg and colleagues.