5 charts that show what the public really thinks about the David Cameron 'debauchery' claims
YouGov surveyed 3,000 people on the scandal a day after it broke
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Your support makes all the difference.Allegations over David Cameron's "debauched behaviour" at Oxford University don't matter to public opinion of the Prime Minister now, a snap survey has found.
YouGov asked almost 3,000 people what they thought about claims published from Lord Ashcroft's unauthorised biography of Mr Cameron in the Daily Mail.
The first extracts from "Call me Dave" included claims he smoked cannabis, was a member of "debauched Oxford society" Piers Gaveston, and that he was involved in an initiation ceremony where he "put a private part of his anatomy into a dead pig's mouth".
Lord Ashcroft wrote that the latter allegation was made three times by an MP and Oxford contemporary of Mr Cameron, who claimed a photograph existed of the act. The peer wrote that it may be a "case of mistaken identity".
Asked about their reaction to what has now been dubbed "#piggate", more than 60 per cent of respondents told YouGov that the allegations "were [about events] years ago and couldn't matter less".
Just one in four said that it did matter, because "it's a sign of the man and a legitimate public interest story".
YouGov noted that it didn't specifically "mention the pig" when it posed the question, but said it nonetheless appeared that "most people in the wider British world don't care, at least in principle".
Does Britain care about '#piggate'?
The polling company also broke down the results by various factors including politics, age and gender.
It found that Labour supporters were much more likely to think the "debauchery" claims mattered than those who identified with any other party. A huge 89 per cent of Conservative voters thought it didn't matter.
Shock: Tories don't care
Men were more likely than women to think it was a legitimate public interest story, YouGov said. While the proportions saying it didn't matter were similar, women were more likely to say they "don't know".
It matters more to men
People in the north of England and Scotland were more likely to say "#piggate" mattered, at around 30 per cent compared to 20 per cent in the south, midlands and Wales.
London looks the other way
There was also a significant age divide in the results, with young respondents much more likely to say they "didn't know" if it mattered while older respondents - aged 60 plus - overwhelming said it "couldn't matter less".
Anything goes after 60
Downing Street has refused to comment on the claims, saying it won't "dignify" the allegations. The Prime Minister himself is understood to have told friends the specific claims about a dead pig were "utter nonsense".
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