Westminster insiders back Ed Balls over Alan Johnson |

Friday 4th February 2011 | 16:48

Westminster insiders back Ed Balls over Alan Johnson

Ed Balls has the backing of those in the know in Westminster, according to PoliticsHome's first Insider Panel Survey of 2011.

Almost 66% of our respondents said that Mr Balls would make a better Shadow Chancellor than the recently departed Alan Johnson. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of Labour-supporting panellists (79%) backed Mr Balls to better his predecessor, suggesting he may not be quite as divisive a figure within his party as some believe. He is also rated more highly than Mr Johnson by Tories, over half (53%) of whom think the former Brown acolyte will outperform Mr Johnson.

Will Ed Balls prove more or less effective than Alan Johnson? (Y axis shows %)

Chancellor George Osborne is more strikingly divisive. Among Tories, well over half (58%) think he is doing an especially good job, whereas just 5% of Labour supporters think he is shaping up - compared to 14% of Tories who think Mr Balls is performing well.

Mr Balls came top of our Shadow Cabinet League Table, with Andy Burnham second and Yvette Cooper third. There is further good news for Mr Balls from within his party, with 59% of Labour supporters saying he was performing particularly well in his job, nearly 20% ahead of Mr Burnham and Ms Cooper. The same trio come out top with Tory supporters, suggesting they are viewed as the biggest threat to the Coalition.

On the Government benches, Iain Duncan Smith may take heart from the fact that 40% of our panel think he is on top of his brief, giving him top spot in our Cabinet League Table. It's a rather different story over at Health, where Andrew Lansley has the backing of just under 15% of those polled.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, avuncular Ken Clarke is the most popular Tory with Liberal Democrat supporters. However it is interesting to note that Mr Clarke is also more popular with Labour supporters (29%) than with Tories (25%), as well as being more popular with Lib Dems (53%) than their own Vince Cable (28%). Dr Cable seems to have taken a hit from the recent Telegraph revelations, with just 13% of respondents saying he is doing especially well in the role.

Which of these Cabinet members do you think is doing an especially good job? (Y axis shows %)