A poll conduced at the end of February by Ipsos-MORI for The Economist shows that the economy continues to be the public's most pressing concern. This is potentially a double-edged sword for Labour. The public still blame Labour, rather than the banks for the deficit. Moving beyond that will be easier said than done.
A poll conduced at the end of February by Ipsos-MORI for The Economist shows that the economy continues to be the public’s most pressing concern.
This is potentially a double-edged sword for Labour.
With the increasingly influential presence of Lynton Crosby in the Tory camp, not to mention the loss of the Eastleigh by-election, David Cameron will come under increasing pressure from Tory backbenchers to shift policy further to the Right.
Nothing new here of course.
An excellent (separate) piece for the Economist today notes that in the run up to the 2005 election, an emboldened Tory Right sought to “shift…emphasis [in the party] away from public services towards immigration, crime and, of course, Europe…”.
They largely succeeded, resulting in a calamitous electoral defeat for Tory leader Michael Howard in a winnable election.
Backbench ideologues rarely learn lessons from history, so expect Cameron to face similar demands as worried MPs sense weakness on the back of humiliations like that in Eastleigh.
Labour can, indeed, take a degree of solace from the prospect of the Tories scrabbling around to prevent their core vote indulging Nigel Farage’s protest party.
No more than a degree of solace, though.
While Ed Miliband has been wise to turn his attention to economic concerns of late in the form of (largely symbolic) policy proposals on the mansion tax and the 10p tax rate, Labour is still suffering badly when voters are asked about the economy, as a poll for YouGov this week showed.
Q a) Which party would handle Britain’s economy best?
Q b) Who would you trust more to run the economy?
| a) Which party? | b) Which team? | ||||||
| Con | Lab | Other/ Don’t know | Cameron/ Osborne | Miliband/ Balls | Not sure | ||
| % | % | % | % | % | % | ||
| Apr 2012 | 28 | 27 | 45 | 36 | 28 | 35 | |
| Jul 2012 | 27 | 26 | 47 | 34 | 31 | 35 | |
| Oct 2012 | 26 | 28 | 46 | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Dec 2012 | 28 | 27 | 45 | 37 | 26 | 37 | |
| Feb 2013 | 27 | 29 | 44 | 35 | 29 | 37 |
As Peter Kelner phrased it:
“Almost three years after Gordon Brown left Downing Street, more people still blame Labour rather than the Conservatives for the state of the economy and the public spending cuts that Osborne has imposed. Secondly, when asked who they trust more to run the economy, more people still prefer Cameron and Osborne to Miliband and Balls.”
While Labour is right to focus on the economy – it is voters’ main concern and Osborne is the government’s biggest liability – doing so is a double-edged sword. It is potentially Labour’s strongest area of attack, but it also risks a damaging boomerang effect.
Moving beyond the fact that the public appear to still blame Labour, rather than the banks, for the deficit will be easier said than done.
In the public mind, the party is still stuck in the Gordon Brown era, and the failure to win the argument in 2009/10 that it was the banks rather than the government which was to blame for the crisis still hangs around the party’s neck like an albatros.
142 Responses to “Labour is still struggling to leave the Brown era behind”
Mick
Ah, ‘sensible vote threshold’. ‘Scared of a left wing party’. So it’s not about fairness but more about keeping who you want out and getting who you want in. But then, given the BNP polled better than left wing counterparts like the SWP, many left wing radicals would be out as well.
And under a PR system of compromises, they’d all be on-side with a dominant Labour or Lib Dem block anyway, with everyone having to muddy the manifestos.
I don’t want business and industry controlling but I do acknowledge that business leaders are part of the environment. And faced with left wing firebrands always wanting to ‘punish’ them, who would you expect them to ally with?
Newsbot9
The Nordics are doing fine in the EU and have a lot of support for it. Well done, your right have managed to cut very efficient spending on infrastructure – rejoice!
A referendum isn’t democratic. I agree with Atlee and Thatcher on that. General referendums are how a government is selected, and the lies on TV and foreign cash at the last referendum show how much you hate and despise democracy when you call for them.
And yes, you won’t talk about your plans openly. It’s typically dishonest of your Tories.
Mick
Oh, so I’m the violent criminal now! Oh little Newsbot, the equivalence attacks start again! Calm down dear, just calm down mate!
And even the Guardian concedes that longer sentences leads to a lower re-offending rate. Victims of true crime know what their perpetrators are. So they must be treated as such:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/jul/07/longer-prison-sentences-cut-crime
Newsbot9
You admitted to being such, yes. Keep parroting the sexist, patronising big brother line of your Dear Leader.
And yes, people like you are indeed the problem. You’re using one study which has major methodology problems to make a claim. Never mind every other study.
Are you going to report to jail, or give this argument up?
Newsbot9
Nope, it’s about a modern voting system where parties have to represent their supporters. And like I care about radicals like the SWP. Keep on making up nonsense in your desperate fight for FPTP.
And of course you want voting rights for “business and industry”, by which you mean a few massive companies. Of course you’d get the very rich with their newly amplified power voting for whoever promised them more tax cuts, regardless of the societal damage. Keep up making it plain how much you hate workers.
Unlike you, I’m actually pro-business, not the rich leeches who are not funding business and workers.