Factbox: Views on British coalition's first 100 days

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Britain's first coalition government since World War Two marked 100 days in office on Wednesday.

Below are some comments on the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's progress so far:

RICHARD LAMBERT, DIRECTOR GENERAL, CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH

INDUSTRY

"The overall judgment to date is positive. Business has a strong interest in the success of the coalition, the last thing it wants is a period of drift and political uncertainty. And it has been impressed by the speed and direction of policy-making."

"This applies in particular to the government's determined efforts to get the public finances back into shape. June's budget was seen as bold and audacious, and it needed to be."

"And it is not just in economic matters that this government is turning out to be more radical than expected ... if anything, the worry now is that the government is attacking on such a broad front, with big reforms proposed in the health service, education, policing, welfare and more, that the process might start to become unmanageable."

MILES TEMPLEMAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS

"We are delighted that the coalition has achieved two key early objectives -- an ambitious deficit reduction plan and a bill facilitating more school competition. If we want the UK economy to thrive, tackling the crisis in our public finances and creating a better skilled workforce is absolutely central."

"However, we are concerned that the government has yet to show a similar enthusiasm for grappling with the problem of over-regulation, particularly of the labor market."

"If the UK is to compete with India and China as the economy recovers the government needs to make it easier for businesses to employ people, not harder."

DAVID FROST, DIRECTOR GENERAL, BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

"Early action on deficit reduction and burdensome employment regulation has been strongly welcomed by business, and many of the measures in the emergency budget struck the right balance."

"However, business wants to see more progress in areas such as international trade and reform of the UK's planning system. While the prime minister has led a trade mission to India, we have not yet seen the appointment of a dedicated trade minister, nor a focused strategy for a strong export economy."

LIZ PEACE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BRITISH PROPERTY FEDERATION

"Its first 100 days have been stimulating, chaotic and occasionally disturbing but this new era remains a historical achievement, and it is to the coalition government's credit that it has not yet targeted the property industry as a quick and crowd-pleasing way of raising cash."

"What has spooked many however is its obsession with localism: we hadn't expected government to act so quickly to scrap regional planning without giving thought to the impact on risk-averse councils. Ministers must now make good their promise to incentivize development in areas crying out for investment and renewal."

BOB CROW, GENERAL SECRETARY, RAIL, MARITIME AND TRANSPORT

WORKERS UNION

"One hundred days into the ConDem government we know that transport is being lined up for further, massive cuts this autumn that threaten jobs, infrastructure projects, safety and the quality of service to the traveling public."

"It will take coordinated trade union and community action on a scale unseen since the Poll Tax resistance to stop the ConDem's cuts juggernaut."

MARK SERWOTKA, GENERAL SECRETARY, PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL

SERVICES UNION

"The government's first 100 days have been characterized by attack after attack on the low-paid, the vulnerable and on their own workforce."

"We do not accept the need to cut public spending. Cuts now seriously risk plunging our economy into further economic crisis and present the real possibility of a double-dip recession."

"We believe there is a better, more effective, alternative, including investment in public services, collecting the 120 billion pounds ($187.5 billion) of tax that is lost each year, and saving billions of pounds by scrapping plans to replace the Trident nuclear missile system."

BRENDAN BARBER, GENERAL SECRETARY, TRADES UNION CONGRESS

"Before the election we were told that cuts could be achieved through efficiency savings, that the most vulnerable would be protected and front-line services preserved. These pledges have not lasted 100 days."

"What makes this worse is that these cuts are doing the opposite of what the government intends. Far from securing the economic recovery, they are slamming on the economic brakes. Growth will be well below potential and there is growing risk of a double-dip recession."

PATRICK NOLAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, REFORM THINK TANK

"The first 100 days do matter in establishing a government's long-term vision. Its (the coalition's) goal of a smaller government and stronger society is right but many of its policies go in exactly the other direction."

ANTHONY WELLS, YOUGOV POLLSTERS

"We asked the public how it thought the government had done so far. Forty three percent think the coalition government has performed better than the last government, 26 percent worse."

"The majority of the public has confidence in the government's ability to run the economy (55 percent) and there is widespread confidence in its ability to cut the deficit (62 percent). However, the public are generally pessimistic about its ability to deliver in other areas."

"The public still don't expect the coalition to last the distance. Only 14 percent expect it to last more than four years, 47 percent expect it to last less than two years."