The general election won't make Britain happy. Today's ComRes poll for the Daily Politics programme, which shows that 36% of voters don't know what the Tories stand for, also suggests that every conceivable outcome of the election will add to the nation's gloom.
ComRes asked whether a particular result would make people feel happy or unhappy – and every option resulted in the "unhappies" winning.
The result that would spread the most gloom would be a hung parliament with Gordon Brown remaining as prime minister.
The results for this are:
Unhappy: 64%
Happy: 30%
The next worst option, on this measure, would be a hung parliament with David Cameron as prime minister.
Unhappy: 57%
Happy: 33%
Interestingly, the figures for a Labour win are almost exactly the same.
Unhappy: 56%
Happy: 34%
The most popular outcome would be a Conservative win, which is the only result that would leave less than half the population unhappy. But the "unhappies" would still outnumber the "happies". (Other categories were "indifferent" and "don't know".)
Unhappy: 46%
Happy: 41%
These figures may help to explain why, despite the unpopularity of Labour, the Tories aren't doing better than they are. It seems voters aren't particularly enthusiastic about any of the options on offer.
