*Following the General Election, we updated our analysis with the actual 2010 results.
Our analysis of voting intentions in a selection of cities during the period February 2009 to February 2010 shows that between the 2005 general election and the beginning of the 2010 election campaign, Labour lost ground in many cities and the Conservatives made significant in-roads in cities such as Birmingham.
Gordon Brown was unpopular in every city, with more than half of the voters in each city we looked at dissatisfied with the way he is doing his job as Prime Minister. But they were still in two minds about David Cameron. Nick Clegg had good net approval ratings with urban voters even before the election campaign began.
The economy was the most important issue for urban voters, ahead of race, immigration and crime.
Voters in struggling cities are disengaged from the political process. They were twice as likely as those in buoyant cities to say they are ‘certain’ not to vote.
Analysis is based on polling by Ipsos MORI
