What do the public think of Ken Clarke after his gaffe on Wednesday? According to a YouGov poll conducted during the 48 hours since his comments, a slim pluarlity think he should resign from his post as justice secretary:
Perhaps unsurpisingly, the majority of Labour supporters agree with their leader’s call for him to go, although a majority of Tories and two-thirds of Lib Dems think he ought to stay.
When it comes to the issue at the centre of the furore – reducing the sentence for someone who pleads guilty by up to half (as opposed to a third, as it stands now) – the public is much more set against Clarke:
More specifically, 33 per cent say there should be no reduction in sentences at all for people who plead guilty, whatever their crime. 51 per cent support the idea of a reduction for guilty pleas, but only for minor crimes – not rape or murder.
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