Cocaine use should disqualify you from becoming an MP, majority of the public believe
More than half the public believe the admission of previously taking cocaine should disqualify people from being an MP, says a survey that will be a blow to Michael Gove’s hopes of weathering the storm over his drug revelation.
The YouGov poll of 1,677 people shows 56 per cent of the population believe it is not acceptable for someone who has ever taken cocaine to be a member of Parliament.
The research suggests that even if Mr Gove manages to persuade MPs to back him for Prime Minister and allow him to put his case to the membership, he faces a potential backlash from the Conservative grassroots.
The poll shows two-thirds of Conservative voters (67 per cent) believe it is unacceptable for someone who has taken cocaine to be an MP, compared with 48 per cent of Labour voters and 53 per cent of LibDems.
It is the same proportion among Brexit-supporting members of the public where 67 per cent felt taking cocaine was unworthy of an MP, against 46 per cent of Remain voters.
Only Rory Stewart’s admission of taking opium faces a potentially more negative reaction than Mr Gove’s admission. Almost two-thirds of the public (64 per cent) believed previously taking heroin disqualified someone from being an MP, rising to 74 per cent of Conservative voters.
Cannabis was the only drug where more members of the public agreed it was acceptable to be an MP and previously have taken it than those who thought it was unacceptable.
Just under a third (31 per cent) said it was not acceptable to have previously taken cannabis and be an MP, compared with 43 per cent who thought it was acceptable.
Almost one in five (19 per cent) thought it was even acceptable for a serving MP to occasionally or frequently smoke cannabis.
There was a strong age divide in the polling with thirty per cent of 18 to 24 year olds believing it was acceptable for MPs or chief executive officers to smoke pot.
They are also only half as likely as their eldest peers to think someone should not hold such a role for having ever taken cannabis - 18 per cent compared to 40 per cent of those aged 65 or older.
In separate YouGov polling, one in nine (11 per cent) admitted having taken cocaine, the same percentage as for Ecstasy.
Just over a third (34 per cent) admitted having taken cannabis of which five per cent said they currently take it. That compared with just one per cent saying they had previously taken heroin.
* Six in ten Britons say they know someone who suffers from an addiction including to alcohol, drugs or porn, a YouGov poll for the charity Action on Addiction.
Alcohol is the most prevalent addiction, with 73 per cent of people who know someone who has ever suffered from an addiction, highlighting it as the kind suffered.
Nicotine comes second at 40 per cent, with illicit drugs next at 35 per cent and gambling at 23 per cent Others include porn (five per cent), sexual behaviour (five per cent) and solvents (three per cent).
