Just 21 per cent of people believe that George Osborne is doing a good job
When ICM’s poll for the Guardian earlier this week put Labour and the Conservatives on a level footing on 36 per cent each, many — basically everyone — declared it to be a fluke. But a new poll out today suggests it might not have been.
According to the data compiled by YouGov for the Times, Labour are now ahead of the Tories, albeit within the margin of error. Asked how they would vote, 34 per cent of respondents said Labour, compared to 33 per cent who said Conservative.
Asked if they felt George Osborne was doing a good job, 45 per cent said no, while just 21 per cent said yes.
49 per cent believe that the economy is being managed badly, while 38 per cent think it’s being well looked after. 38 per cent believe the UK economy will get worse over the next year. Just 14 per cent expect it to improve.
Amid ongoing rumours of Conservative civil war over proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment, 70 per cent of respondents said that proposals to reduce the entitlement to disability benefits for people who need to use an aid or appliance for daily tasks was simply the wrong priority within the budget.
59 per cent also feel that it is a wrong priority to make all primary and secondary schools into academies by 2020. Just 14 per cent feel that it is a good idea.
41 per cent feel that the Government’s spending cuts to reduce the deficit are bad for the economy, marginally ahead of the 33 per cent who support them. 57 per cent feel the cuts are being made unfairly.
Given all the focus of late on Government efforts to support home ownership, 25 per cent of people feel Labour is best placed to help people onto the housing ladder compared to 22 per cent who say the same about the Conservatives. But Labour still trails significantly behind the Conservatives on who is best placed to look after the economy.
Labour do however lead the Conservatives on who would improve living standards and who would reduce the number of people in poverty.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor at Left Foot Forward
4 Responses to “Polling puts Labour ahead as Tories tumble”
Nigel de Gruchy
Latest opinion polls are good news but Labour’s Achilles’ heel is still competence on running the economy. That will remain so unless and until Labour decides to nail the Big Tory Lie – that Labour caused the crash. Of course it was the financiers – the Tories’ paymasters who caused it. Under Ed Miliband Labour believed no good purposed was served by ‘litigating the past’. That was a disastrous mistake. The Tories and the media ram the past down Labours’ throats and anyone canvassing on the doorsteps will tell you how that influences public opinion.
Martin Readm
To ask the question, ‘whether Labour can be trusted on the economy,’ really must now be beyond a joke. Really, this is a government regarded as competent with the economy is it? Even now, as we half expect that Osborne will not be achieving his 2020 targets, the media lies through its teeth that this is the trust-worthy party, and we are expected to suck it up. The Great Depression is no more, we are now living the new ‘greatest recession,’ the perfect economy in which money may be shovelled from the poorest and into the bulging pockets of the mega-wealthy. For God’s sake!
Alun Parsons
Because we all know how reliable opinion polls are, right?
Jimmy Glesga
Nigel. All the parties are in the hands of the financiers. So the choice we have is who is best dealing with them. Is there an alternative!