TV Debate wins Clegg Business Vote Lead, according to poll of 400 employers

The Leaders’ Debates have propelled Nick Clegg into an outright business lead of 30 points as the person that employers most want to work for them, according to contrasting poll results from more than 400 organisations before and after the first two TV Debates.

Independent campaign Keep Britain Working set employers the same question in two separate polls, one before the first TV Leaders’ Debate and one after the second Debate.   Over 400 businesses chose between Cameron, Brown or Clegg when asked 'If you had to employ one of the following to work for you, who would you pick?'

Nick Clegg’s business rating rose from 28 per cent to 59 per cent following the TV Debate, seizing the outright lead from Cameron.   Before the Leaders’ Debates, Clegg was 25 points behind, and 30 points ahead after the Debates – an overall swing of 55 points.

David Cameron suffered a 24 point drop after the TV Debates from 53 per cent to 29 per cent of the poll, losing his business lead and dropping 30 points behind Clegg.

Gordon Brown’s standing dropped less than Cameron’s but still fell by 6 points, leaving Brown even further behind in third place with just 13 per cent of the business vote.

Gender analysis revealed the impact of the Debates was greatest among women.  Nick Clegg gained a post-Debate swing of 37 points from businesswomen, compared to a swing from businessmen of 26 points. 

The gender effect was most damaging to David Cameron, who lost 34 points among businesswomen following the debate, compared to a drop of only 17 points among businessmen.  In contrast, Gordon Brown lost most among businessmen, dropping by 9 points among men and only 3 points among women.

 James Reed, Chairman of recruitment group Reed and founder of independent campaign Keep Britain Working, says: 

“Whoever is the next Prime Minister will clearly need a good head for business, given the challenges we face and with 8.5 million people currently economically inactive.

“At Keep Britain Working we look forward to presenting the next Government with the one thousand ideas we have collected from people throughout the country on how best to retain jobs and create new ones.”

For further information on Keep Britain Working and this release,  please contact Katy Nicholson on 07712 873780, katy.nicholson@reedglobal.com or  Lewis Campbell on 020 7616 2327 or 07908 566 859, lewis.campbell@reedglobal.com 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Keep Britain Working set the same questions in two polls of employers, once before the first TV Debate and once after the second TV Debate.

• Employers were asked to choose between David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, in answer to the question:  “If you had to employ one of the following to work for you, who would you pick?” 

Overall Results

                                 Pre-Debate    Post-Debate

Nick Clegg            28%                  59%

David Cameron     53%                  29%

Gordon Brown       19%                   13%

Split by gender           

                                           Pre-Debate      Post Debate   

Nick Clegg         Women          27%                 64%

                             Men                29%                  55%

David Cameron  Women          57%                  23%

                               Men                50%                  33%

Gordon Brown     Women         16%                  13%

                               Men                21%                  12%

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

Keep Britain Working is an independent campaign which aims to retain jobs and create new ones.  Launched last year, it is endorsed by all three of Britain’s main political parties, and has attracted 1,000 ideas from people across the countries which it has pledged will be presented to the next government.

·  "The Keep Britain Working campaign makes an important contribution to ensuring employers share the sorts of innovative approaches that will help people avoid unemployment and help businesses prepare for recovery."  Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister

·  "Keep Britain Working is a tremendous campaign that will bring help and support to employers from all sectors who are struggling through this recession" Rt Hon Theresa May MP Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

·   "I am very pleased to support Keep Britain Working – pooling ideas to steer businesses, employees and thus the country through this recession" Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats"

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