Last week's Poll: Roadbuilding and rebalancing

Was it a case of shameless electioneering, or a genuine acknowledgement of the need to improve the road network in order to ease the movement of people and freight and thereby help rebalance the economy?

Deputy PM Nick Clegg asserted last week that a £15bn road upgrade would play an essential role in rebalancing the economy and in May 2015 he’ll find himself going through a democratic process that could either return him to Parliament or see him looking for new challenges.

Clegg and his colleagues will be at the mercy of the UK’s first-past-the-post system and, if we – as is usually the way - apply that method to The Engineer’s Poll then we see a clear winner of last week’s poll with a 43 per cent majority. More on that later.

The remaining 57 per cent of respondents were divided between an interesting mix of opinions, with 28 per cent in line with Clegg, agreeing that manufacturing’s contribution to the economy can’t be improved without better road links; and a further 12 per cent saying that roads are a poor investment and that the money could better spent elsewhere.