We’re fed up with kitchens (...and wives)
THEY have invited us into their kitchens and proudly shown off their families.
But most of us are fed up with hearing about the wives and children of the party leaders, it seems.
For 71 per cent of voters say they are choosing politicians and have no need to know about their spouses or offspring, a ComRes survey for the Daily Mail and ITV News reveals.
Only a quarter say it is important to know about leaders’ domestic lives.
The findings may come as a shock to Ed Miliband, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, who have all invited the TV cameras into their homes and given their wives prominent campaign roles.
Yesterday Mr Clegg became the latest to show off his kitchen, only to have it criticised for being mismatched and dated.
It follows an interview with Mr Miliband and his wife Justine in one of their two kitchens and footage of the Camerons in the kitchen in Downing Street and in their Witney home.
In the ITV interview broadcast last night, Mr Clegg and his Spanish wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez were seen in their £1.5million Putney home, sipping white wine while, in the background, a paella was cooking on the hob.
However, one interior designer said the Clegg kitchen was ‘middle of the road’, too much a mix of city and country – and in need of refreshing. In the interview,
Mr Clegg revealed what many have long suspected, that in key decisions his wife wears the trousers.
The ComRes poll shows Conservative voters are the most likely to think it is important to get to know the wives and children of the party leaders – 32 per cent, compared with 25 per cent of Labour voters.
Women are marginally more likely to want to know about politicians’ families than men, by 27 per cent to 24 per cent.
This follows a campaign that has seen the wives play unprece- dented high-profile roles. Mrs Cameron has accompanied her husband on a series of election visits. She has even made a solo visit to the seat of Rochester, in Kent, where the Tories are seeking to dislodge Ukip defector Mark Reckless.
Justine Miliband has given a national newspaper interview while Mr Clegg’s wife has also taken part in campaign visits.
A separate poll found that Mrs Cameron is twice as popular as other leaders’ wives.
The YouGov survey found that 54 per cent of voters though Mrs Cameron was the best election asset, with 26 per cent for Mrs Miliband and 20 per cent supporting Miss Gonzalez Durantez.
The Prime Minister’s wife scored well with men and women alike, as well as voters who have backed other parties.
Some 90 per cent of Tory supporters chose Mrs Cameron, compared with 82 per cent of Lib-Dem supporters who opted for Mrs Clegg.
Only 61 per cent of Labour supporters backed Mrs Miliband.