North and South

north south divide.jpg
Originally uploaded by remarked

The Guardian has some very interesting regional breakdowns for their latest poll.

About the LibDems, it says:

In the north Lib Dem support is firm: 22% now, against 23% in 2005. But in the south – where most Lib Dem MPs are elected – it has collapsed, down nine points at 19%. That means the Liberal Democrats are now stronger in the north than the south for the first time since their formation. The party has also dropped back seven points in London. Polling day could be brutal.

The Tories seem to be going backwards in the north of England, but growing a lot in the south, so it looks like the LibDems and the Tories might increasingly be carving England up between them.

The consequence of that would be that the only realistic alternative to a Labour government could be a Tory-LibDem coalition, but of course the electoral system could make things turn out very different.

It will be interesting to see whether these results are confirmed by other polls. And I do wonder whether it will force a change of LibDem leadership – I’m pretty sure all LibDem MPs for the south of England are feeling very worried today!