Almost half of voters would be more likely to vote for a party that promoted public ownership ahead of outsourcing and privatisation, according to a new poll.
Almost half of voters would be more likely to vote for a party that promoted public ownership ahead of outsourcing and privatisation, according to a new poll.
63 per cent of Labour voters, 52 per cent of Liberal Democrats and 25 per cent of Conservative voters said they would be more likely to vote for a party that promised public ownership over privatisation, the poll carried out by We Own It, a campaign group which promotes public ownership, found.
Overall the survey found that 46 per cent of voters would be more likely to vote for a party which promoted public ownership, while only 11 per cent would be less likely to do so. 43 per cent said it would make no difference.
Labour came out on top when people were asked which party they favoured on the issue, with 30 per cent answering that they trusted the party most to run public services. The Conservatives received 21 per cent followed by UKIP with 8 per cent. The Lib Dems had 6 per cent while the Greens trailed behind with 4 per cent.
The survey reflects a number of recent polls suggesting strong support for public ownership. In 2009 data showed that 31 per cent strongly supported the renationalisation of electricity, gas, water, railways and telecommunications, with 36 per cent slightly supporting renationalisation. According to a ComRes poll taken earlier this month, 69 per cent wanted energy renationalised.
Seventy per cent, too, are against the sell-off of the Royal Mail, while 53 per cent believe private sector involvement in the NHS undermines the health service. A poll conducted last year found that over half the public supported full nationalisation of the Railways.
The We Own It survey questioned 1,508 adults aged 18+ between 27 and 29 September.
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18 Responses to “Voters want public ownership by ratio of 4 to 1”
Tom Chance
Link to the full poll data?
Selohesra
British Leyland, British Rail , British steel etc – they were all great sucess stories after all
George Carty
I’m not sure British Rail was really a failure, and British Leyland was a classic example of “lemon socialism”, where a failing capitalist business was nationalized because too many people’s jobs depended on it to let it go bust.
Cole
And of course British Gas, for those of us who suffer as customers, is so great, as are the other energy companies.
George Carty
Privatization is to blame for high electricity and gas prices today, but not because of profiteering.
It is because privatization happened at a time of double-digit interest rates, which meant that all new investment in power stations went to gas-fired plants (as they are much quicker to build than coal-fired or nuclear plants). As a result, North Sea gas has almost run out, making us increasingly dependent on imports.