Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Poll Results: What You Think of Michael Martin

A couple of days ago I asked you to take part in an online poll on the Speakership of the House of Commons. Here are the results...

How do you rate the performance of Michael Martin as Speaker?

Excellent 2%
Good 4%
Adequate 11%
Poor 33%
Dreadful 49%

Do you think it is now time for Michael Martin to step down as Speaker?

Yes 91%
No 9%

Who would you like to see elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons, should a vacancy arise?

Sir Alan Haselhurst 22.6%
Sir George Young 18.8%
Sir Menzies Campbell 12%
Frank Field 11.3%
Vince Cable 9.5%
Kenneth Clarke 9%
Alan Beith 4.1%
Michael Ancram 3.5%
Sir Patrick Cormack 3.4%
John Bercow 2.5%
Sylvia Heal 2.2%
Sir Michael Lord 1.1%

Who do you rate as the best Speaker of the last 30 years?

Betty Boothroyd 49%
Bernard Weatherill 32%
George Thomas 18%
Michael Martin 1%

1,122 people took part in this poll. Note that 46% of the respondents were not Conservative voters.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

> Note that 46% of the respondents were not Conservative voters.

This sentence is somewhat misleading: this means that 54% of respondents are Conservative voters, which is disproportionate to the entire country.

Michael Martin's still a rubbish Speaker though, although I will miss his slightly tired-sounding pronounciation of 'Questions for the Prime Minister'.

Oscar Miller said...

"this means 54% of respondents are Conservative voters."

Strictly speaking the question was - how will you vote at the next election. Not how did you vote at the last one. There must be some like me who didn't vote Conservative last time but certainly will next time. Maybe Iain could ask both questions and get some sense of swing - on this site anyway.

Oscar Miller said...

errr that's 'swing' in the strictly political sense of course ....

Anonymous said...

Just goes to show that not many people voting are over 50. Anyone who is would know that George Thomas was the best speaker in living memory, by a fair distance.

Ross said...

The speaker should go, but is is a good thing if he's forced out or will that just ensure that the succession would be conducted in a highly partisan fashion and we'd end up back to square one?

Martin deserves to be hounded out but I'm not sure that it would be the best thing for the office he holds.

Anonymous said...

were there any other nominations for speaker?

Anonymous said...

I would like to nominate Mutley as the next speaker.

Anonymous said...

Didnt you say you would publish the results once 1,500 people had taken it? 1,122 later and you change your mind?

Anonymous said...

Jim Bowen (Bullseye) 6-4
Dusty Bin (3-2-1) 3-1
Valerie Singleton 8-1
Vera Duckworth (Dec'd) 10-1
That buffoon off
"The Crystal Maze" 20-1
The Hamiltons 20-1
Kevin the Gerbil 50-1
Barbra Streisand 100-1
P J Proby 500-1 (bar)
Harold Shipman
Shergar

[That's enough - Ed]

Anonymous said...

ICBW but wasnt Bernard Weatherill the speaker when they allowed sound recording into the commons? I would suggest this is why he is seen as the speaker archetype.

Tuscan Tony said...

It would therefore appear that 11 people out there rate Michael Martin as the best there's been for over 30 year!