NME Readers are Lib Dem Voters? NME's Political Survey

Instead of Tony Blair and Labour cruising to yet another victory, Britain would have a Liberal Democrat government with Coldplay’s Chris Martin as the new Prime Minister.

In the poll conducted for the NME by pollsters Populus, rather than being perennially outsiders, the Lib Dems would actually take charge commanding 37% of your support, with Labour trailing on 26% and the Conservatives third on 17%.

That said, NME readers aren’t dreamers, with almost half of you expecting Tony Blair to be Prime Minister again following the election on May 5. And while the majority of you (62%) don’t think the Government is doing a good job, you still believe that’s better than letting Michael Howard and co have a go.

It also seems NME readers are more politically motivated. At 2001 election only 39% of all 18-24 years actually bothered voting. However this time an impressive 73% of NME readers in the same age-group who responded to our poll said they’ll be definitely be going out to vote on May 5.

We also gave you the choice of replacing Tony Blair in 10 Downing Street with a rock star, and it proved a hotly fought contest. The Others’ Dominic Masters, Thom Yorke, Bono and even Morrissey come into contention for the top political job, while Coldplay’s Chris Martin is a firm favourite amongst NME readers for Prime Minister.

With Martin’s commitment to causes like Make Trade Fair, it’s something that hasn’t surprised the regular politicians.

“They are straight with their fans, you know where you stand with a band like Coldplay,” said Matthew Taylor, Parliamentary Chairman for the Liberal Democrats. “One of the problems with politicians is they do spend a lot of time pretending to be something they’re not and I think that’s something politicians can learn.”

The poll also shows that the three most important issues facing Britain in the eyes of NME readers are the NHS (57%), education (51%) and crime (36%).