The public is not prepared to credit the Liberal Democrats with adding heart or brains to a coalition – but they are preferred to the SNP or UKIP

In a new YouGov poll for Red Box, I posed the question: "Nick Clegg claimed that a vote for the Liberal Democrats would stop Labour or the Conservatives governing alone and would 'add a heart to a Conservative government and add a brain to a Labour one': do you think a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats would have more heart than a Conservative majority government?"

It was a close judgment: 38% said yes, 39% said no. "More brains" was rejected by a larger margin, with 32% agreeing and 44% disagreeing.

However, I then asked them to "imagine there is a hung parliament after the next election with neither Labour nor the Conservatives having a majority. Which of the smaller parties would you most like to see holding the balance of power?"

Lib Dems - 37%

Ukip - 26%

SNP - 17%

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See the full poll results here and here