If a new leader were to be elected from outside politics altogether then such a person would ideally have a background in acting. A leader has to be a communicator and have charisma. One said that IDS would have been a perfectly acceptable leader in another age, but not in this one. Now the requirements are for someone who can effectively communicate a message, whatever it is. The job therefore does not require conviction as much as it does passion, not so much brain as it does charisma.

Interestingly the word Charisma emerged in groups among swing voters also. In those groups one respondent said "what he (IDS) needs he hasn't got, and he can't buy it, charisma".

Characters from outside politics who would make a good leader would include Ross Kemp, an actor with a no-nonsense approach, or Ian Botham, a successful sportsman with a straight talking attitude to life.