Even Conservative Supporters Don't Think David Cameron Is In Touch With Normal People

Exclusive polling for BuzzFeed reveals that almost no one in the UK thinks the Prime Minister understands ordinary people. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't vote for him.

Almost no one in the UK believes that David Cameron is in touch with ordinary people, according to polling carried out on behalf of BuzzFeed.

Pool New / Reuters / Reuters

Cameron has never managed to shake off the perception that he struggles to connect with ordinary voters and doesn't understand their concerns.

So BuzzFeed used polling company YouGov's panel to ask more than 1,900 people whether they think each party leader is "in touch with normal people".

The poll found just 14% of the public think the Prime Minister is in touch with ordinary people.

Although very few people believe that any leader of a political party understands the concerns of the typical voter, that rating is less than half that of UKIP's Nigel Farage and Labour's Ed Miliband.

Even people who voted Conservative in 2010 don't think Cameron is in touch.

This is the percentage of voters who think Cameron understands ordinary people, split by party vote at the last general election. And it shows that less than a third of recent Tory voters think he's in touch.

Despite Cameron's privileged background it doesn't have to be this way: Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended Eton College and Oxford University with the Prime Minister but has proved to be far more at ease with the general public.

The BuzzFeed/YouGov poll also found that 77% of those who say they intend to vote UKIP at the 2015 election believe public school-educated Nigel Farage is in touch with normal people. Supporters of the insurgent party are utterly convinced that his background and previous job as a City trader do not stop him understanding their concerns.

The perception that Cameron is an elitist continued when we asked the public to guess his drink of choice.

Neil Hall / Reuters

The most popular suggestion was champagne, followed by red wine and gin & tonic.

And despite photo opportunities at local pubs with visiting Presidents just 12% of the public think Cameron would choose to drink beer, below Nick Clegg (14%), Ed Miliband (19%) and Nigel Farage (42%).

But this doesn't necessarily mean it's a disaster for the Prime Minister. (Just don't put him in a fight with Nigel Farage.)

The BuzzFeed/YouGov poll also found that voters think Cameron will leave the most important legacy of any of the current political party leaders, that he gets up earliest in the day and that he would leave the biggest tip in a restaurant. Or to translate: he's helped by being the current Prime Minister but the public broadly reckons Cameron's going to achieve a lot, that he works hard and he can be generous.

Meanwhile separate polls have suggested the Conservatives are starting to catch up on Labour in terms of voting intention at the general election.

In short, the UK public appears to have concluded that Cameron is aloof and completely out of touch – but that doesn't mean they won't consider voting for him.