Sunday Times poll of the year

23rd December 2012: Top line figures are CON 33%, LAB 43%, LD 10%, UKIP 8%.
 
Updated  YouGov repeated their semi-regular trust tracker they have asked since 2003. While people in the survey said the Mitchell affair had made them trust the police less, the percentage saying they trusted local police officers was actually almost unchanged – 67% trust local police officers a great deal or a fair amount, typical of all the times YouGov have asked the question in the last few years. There was a slight drop in the proportion of people who trusted senior police officers with 47% of people saying they trusted them. While this is the lowest YouGov have recorded, it is not a significant change from the 49% who said they trusted senior police officers in November.
 
In contrast the Savile affair does seem to have significantly damaged trust in the BBC. Today’s figures actually show a slight increase in trust in the BBC since YouGov last asked the question at the very height of the Savile affair – now 51% of people say they trust the BBC, compared to 44% a month ago – however this is still a significant fall from the BBC’s 60% trust rating at the start of the year.

The last monthly poll of the year that was still outstanding, ICM for the Guardian, turned up on Christmas Day of all times. Top line figures were CON 32%, LAB 40%, LD 13% – the figures are all typical of ICM’s polling of late (the comparatively high Liberal Democrat level of support is methodological, and normally due to the reallocation of a proportion of don’t knows to the party they voted for last time, which usually produces a higher Lib Dem score and a lower Labour lead).