Daily Research News Online no. 3304 - Tony Blair � Big Over There

Tony Blair � Big Over There

August 2 2004

The British Prime Minister is the only world leader about whom a majority of Americans feel positive, according to the latest Harris Poll. His positive rating is well up on those of President Bush, Kofi Annan and the Pope, and more than 30% ahead of any other leader of a foreign country.

A similar poll by HI Europe a month ago revealed that Europeans tend to favour those leaders who opposed the war, but American public opinion is very negative when it comes to Messrs Chirac, Schroeder and new Spanish leader Zapatero. More people (44%) have negative opinions about French President Jacques Chirac than about any other foreign leader, and only 14% feel positively toward him. This seems to suggest, says Ipsos, that Americans were much more aware of President Chirac's opposition to the war than of the 'equally strong' opposition of Chancellor Schroeder and Prime Minister Zapatero.

Many of the world leaders are not well known in America. Large numbers have no opinion, positive or negative, of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (73%), Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Kozumi (70%), Spanish Prime Minister Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (66%), Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (62%), and Russian President Vladimir Putin (57%). Half (50%) have neither positive nor negative feelings about U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. By contrast, fewer than one third have no opinion about Mr Blair - fully 58% of Americans say they feel positively about him and only 13% negatively.

In the HI Europe poll of five European nations, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul were the most popular leaders, followed by three strong opponents of the Iraqi invasion, Zapatero, Chirac and Schroeder, while the three most unpopular leaders were pro-Iraq war leaders Bush, Blair and Berlusconi.

US Views of World Leaders 'How negatively or positively do you feel about each of the following leaders?'
Base: All Adults
		Positively (NET)	Very Positively	Somewhat Positively	Neither Negatively Nor Positively	Negatively (NET)	Somewhat Negatively	Very Negatively
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain	%	58	28	31	28	13	9	4
President George W. Bush of the United States	%	43	28	15	11	46	17	29
Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations	%	42	18	24	35	24	13	10
Prime Minister Junichiro Kozumi of Japan	%	24	6	18	50	26	13	13
President Vladimir Putin of Russia	%	22	3	19	70	8	5	2
President Vladimir Putin of Russia	%	20	2	19	57	23	16	7
Chancellor Gerard Schroeder of Germany	%	17	2	15	62	21	12	8
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy	%	17	3	14	73	10	7	3
Prime Minister Luís Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain	%	14	2	12	66	20	13	7
President Jacques Chirac of France	%	14	2	12	42	44	19	25

US and European Views 'How negatively or positively do you feel about each of the following world leaders?'
Base: All Adults
	U.S.		5 European Countries (Average for Britain, France, Germany, Italy & Spain)
	Positively	Negatively	Positively	Negatively
	%	%	%	%
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain	58	13	20	53
President George W. Bush of the United States	43	46	10	76
Pope John Paul II	42	24	45	25
Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations	24	26	52	13
Prime Minister Junichiro Kozumi of Japan	22	8	15	9
President Vladimir Putin of Russia	20	23	21	34
Chancellor Gerard Schroeder of Germany	17	21	30	26
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy	17	10	11	56
Prime Minister Luís Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain	14	20	33	16
President Jacques Chirac of France	14	44	30	30

Harris Interactive(r) surveyed 2,242 people in the US aged 18 plus online between July 12th and 16th. Results and methodology for the HI Europe poll are at www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=821

Web sites are...
Harris Interactive: www.harrisinteractive.com
HI Europe www.hieurope.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.