Election 2015: Less than quarter of voters believe Labour or Tories would keep campaign promises

Less than a quarter of voters think either the Conservatives or Labour can be trusted to keep election promises, a damning poll reveals today.
As David Cameron and Ed Miliband spend another week in apparent deadlock, research by Ipsos MORI reveals that 63 per cent think their parties will “promise anything to win votes”.
In today’s poll, 57 per cent of people thought the Lib-Dems would pledge anything to win over voters.
Only 24 per cent think Labour can be trusted to honour pledges, and just 23  per cent trust the Conservatives.
The ratings for Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage’s parties are also dire, with more than half saying they will “promise anything” and just 17 and 13 per cent respectively trusting them to keep their word.
The cynicism may be one reason why none of the big parties have managed to secure an election breakthrough so far, despite making costly promises such as tax cuts, fare freezes and more money for the NHS.
The Tories are seen as “fit to govern” by half, compared with 40 per cent who say the same of Labour.
The Conservatives also come top for having a good team of leaders, getting 44 per cent to Labour’s 28.
But Labour is ahead by clear margins for understanding Britain’s problems and looking after “people like me”.
And 44 per cent say the Conservatives are “out of date”.
Ukip is seen as extreme by 65 per cent and different to the others by 71.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “There is still much scepticism towards Westminster.
“Party image can be just as important as leader image, if not more so, but all the parties have a challenge to change the public’s perception of them.”
The research found that Mr Cameron and Mr Farage are seen as having the clearest messages. Only 34 per cent feel they don’t know what the Tory leader stands for, with 29 per cent saying the same of his Ukip rival.
The figure rises to 38 for Mr Miliband and 53 for Mr Clegg.
The public are slightly more clear about Mr Cameron’s Tory party. Some 31 per cent of the public feel they don’t know what the party stands for now. Mr Miliband, Mr Farage and Mr Clegg are all seen as having clearer messages than their parties. Voters have been left reeling from broken promises in recent years.
The Lib-Dems famously U-turned on a pledge to scrap tuition fees, for example. And Mr Cameron caused anger after failing to live up to a “cast -iron guarantee” to deliver an EU referendum.
Gordon Brown also claimed to have abolished “boom and bust” shortly before the economic crash.