Peter MacMahon, Scottish Political Editor in the Scotsman, 16 th June 1997.
| 'Despite the impeccable pro-devolution credentials of Donald Dewar, the Scottish Secretary, could there be an unpalatable change of policy being plotted in St Andrew's House? Nobody says it in public. After 18 years in opposition, they have to give their friends and colleagues who are now in power a chance. Yet, there are worries and they cannot be suppressed as they nag away at the back of members' minds. Just what is going on in the detailed discussions on devolution taking place in Scotland and in Whitehall?' Peter MacMahon, Scottish Political Editor in the Scotsman, 16 th June 1997. | |
Donald Dewar was named by just three out of ten of those asked to name the current Secretary of State for Scotland. Six out of ten Scots said they did not know who the new man in charge at St Andrews House was.
A few people (3 per cent, to be precise) thought that it was George Robertson, who was shadow secretary of state but was moved to the Defence Secretary's job in government. Two per cent even thought it was still Michael Forsyth, the previous incumbent, who was defeated at the election.
A very few people appeared to believe that the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was the Scottish Secretary, but not enough to register as a percentage and, they will be relieved to know, they will remain anonymous.
The findings of the lack of knowledge about the new Secretary of State are the only blemish on the character of the new Government, which is otherwise proving incredibly popular with voters in Scotland.
The Labour Party's post-election honeymoon period has been translated into unprecedented levels of satisfaction with its Scottish and United Kingdom leadership.
Mr Blair's rating stands at an impressive +73 satisfaction at the way he is doing his job, compared with his +27 standing in March before the election.
In contrast, John Major is still unpopular but, perhaps reflecting his low profile since the election defeat and a certain degree of sympathy on the part of the electorate, he is less unpopular than he was.
Just before the last election the Scotsman/ICM poll gave Mr Major a satisfaction rating of -39, which has now improved to -6.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, continues to be popular with Scottish voters, with a rating of +58. That is an increase on his last Scotsman/ICM rating of +35 in April before the election.
In Scotland, Mr Dewar, who has been the subject of private criticism from within his own party over his cautious style, is given a huge endorsement by the voters.
Mr Dewar is now more popular than he ever was during his years as shadow Scottish secretary in the decade to 1992. Since The Scotsman began measuring the popularity of politicians using ICM, Mr Dewar's fortunes have fluctuated. From September 1988 to March 1992 Mr Dewar's rating went from +14 to -13.
Today, he has a rating of +55, making him by far the most popular of the four leaders of the main political parties in Scotland. Not only does that make him the most popular Scottish political leader in recent times, it puts him well ahead of the satisfaction rating that Mr Robertson had as shadow Scottish secretary: +21 in January of this year.
The results show the continuing popularity of the Scottish National Party's leader, Alex Salmond, who has a satisfaction rating of +40.
Ahead of Mr Salmond is the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Jim Wallace, with a rating of +43. But Mr Wallace continues to suffer from attracting the highest number of "don't know" replies - a total of 30 per cent.
With no shadow Scottish secretary after the Tory wipe-out at the election, the poll asked voters to comment on the performance of the chairman of the Scottish Tories, Annabel Goldie. Miss Goldie came out with the same satisfaction rating as Mr Major at -6, not a bad result for the leader of a party which failed to win a single seat.
More detailed analysis of the figures for voter satisfaction reveals a considerable degree of goodwill towards the Government. For example, more than six out of ten (61 per cent) Tory voters expressed their satisfaction at Mr Blair's performance.
Though the figures show that supporters of particular parties are, naturally, more pleased with the leader of the party they back there is obviously a sense of voters giving the Government a chance in its early days.
A total of 52 per cent of Tories say they are satisfied with Mr Dewar's performance, with 20 per cent saying they are dissatisfied, giving a positive rating of +32.
Lib Dem supporters in Scotland give Mr Dewar a satisfaction of +56, higher than his rating among Scots as a whole. He is also popular with SNP supporters, whose +55 rating matches the Scottish average.
Return to home page