22:53

The Guardian/ICM poll drilled into various character traits of the two potential prime ministers.

Ed Miliband is ahead on five of the nine questions asked here. By 51% to 32% the viewers trusted him, not Cameron, to govern “in the interests of the many and not the few”, and – by 45% to Cameron’s 38% – to have “the courage to say what’s right, rather than what is popular”. By 42% to 30% the Labour leader is seen as the more understanding of “people like me”, and where 45% charge Cameron with being “more spin than substance” only 37% describe Miliband that way. Miliband will be pleased, too, that the viewers were more inclined to see him than Cameron – by 39% to 33% – as having “changed his party for the better”.

The prime minister, however, maintains an edge on another four fronts. By a crushing 57% to 20% he is seen as more likely to be “respected around the world”, and is also – by 46% to 22% – seen as being the one who would fare better “in a crisis”. By 44% to 33%, Cameron is also seen as more strongly “backed by his party”, and by 49% to 32% as being the more decisive.