The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has caused something odd to happen. It was supposed to usher in a more consensual form of politics. But as far as voters are concerned, the opposite has happened. They think our politics is far more polarised than it was during last year’s election.

From time to time YouGov asks people where they place themselves, our political parties and their leaders on a seven-point scale from left to right. We then give their answers a numerical value, from minus 100 for “very left-wing,” via 0 for centre to plus 100 for “very right-wing.” This allows us to provide an average score for parties, leaders and groups of voters.

During the general election, both Gordon Brown (minus 27) and Nick Clegg (minus 13) were seen as modestly left-of-centre. David Cameron (plus 39) was seen as the least centrist leader, but his rating was substantially less right-wing than