A Question of Character, and the Polls

First of all. Apologies for a five day hiatus in posting: I had  real trouble logging into the blog, and it seems that the Blogger site has had some difficulty, although getting any explanation of what type of problem, or how to solve it, has proved impossible. Anyway, the system is back now, so here goes.

While I've been unable to post, the big story has been the "bullying" accusations against Gordon Brown, and the furore these allegations have caused. But it seems to me, at a closer reading, that the allegations don't really describe bullying, more of having a bad temper, and being more forceful than some others think is appropriate. No doubt Brown made some civil servants quake, but it seems to me that, if you are chosen to work in No10, you will have a strong enough character to take a bit of a bollocking. If you can't take the pressure, maybe you are in the wrong job.

I think that one aspect of the frenzy seems to be getting overlooked: if the election campaign degenerates into a battle over the personalities of the party leaders what does that mean for David Cameron and Nick Glegg? Neither of these men can be said to have a particularly strong personality. Cameron in particular, as the man most likely to succeed  as PM, is seen as weak and vacillating, with no real personality or clear policies. If the Tories try to run a campaign based on the personal characteristics of the respective party leaders, they could end picking a fight they cannot win.

The other interesting aspect is whether the controversy is having any impact on the election campaign: will Gordon's temper get him into hot water, or will it be seen as another feature of his "human" personality?

So just what effect has the bullying accusation had on public perceptions? Well, the Sun's daily poll, here  shows that public opinion has not been moved one jot: the polls are unmoved at Tory 39%, Labour 33% and LibDem 17%, with a Tory lead of 6%, exactly the same as Friday, before the controversy blew up.

On these figures, a hung Parliament is a real possibility.

And if the polls get any closer.......but maybe that's too much to hope!

p.s. this just in from politics home....

It seems that opinion is divided on whether Gordon is bully and most people believe that the intervention of the charty was politically driven.