LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the ruling Conservatives are enjoying a slight lead in opinion polls after announcing tax cuts that pleased few people in this autumn statement budget, it emerged on Friday.
According to a YouGov poll conducted for ‘The Times’ after UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented the budget in Parliament on Wednesday, the Sunak-led Tories’ popularity rating rose to 25 per cent – up four points from the previous week. is more. , the party’s highest ratings in recent weeks.
Opposition Labor maintains its strong lead with no change in its rating of 44 per cent. “This is the highest rating since mid-September and just three points lower than Sunak’s highest ever rating last April,” the newspaper’s analysis said.
It added, “Labour still holds a strong 19-point lead over the government, however, the poll shows that a majority of voters do not believe the measures announced by Hunt will make either themselves or the country materially better off.” will build.”
YouGov found that Hunt’s central measure – a 2p (pence) cut from the National Insurance (tax) rate – was supported by 61 per cent of voters and 72 per cent of those who had supported the Conservatives at the last election. There was overwhelming public support for increasing the minimum wage to GBP 11.44 per hour, with 85 percent of the public supporting it. There was also strong support (60 percent) for requiring people who had been out of work for 18 months to participate in mandatory work placement or lose their benefits.
The extra points, however small, will be welcomed by the Tories after months of lagging in opinion polls as the party prepares for general election mode.
There is some speculation that Sunak may decide to call it quits earlier than widely expected in the autumn of next year to capitalize on the next fiscal event, the Spring Statement Budget, scheduled for March 2024.
The latest general election must be called in January 2025, but it is highly unlikely that Sunak will want to delay the election beyond next year.
What is worrying for the government is that a YouGov survey shows little optimism about the future among voters. Only 14 percent thought their household’s financial situation would improve over the next 12 months, compared with 12 percent in March. However, the proportion saying it will get worse has fallen from 51 percent to 41 percent.
Anthony Wells, head of European political and social research at YouGov, told the newspaper that although the Tories had a slight lead in the polls, the underlying data was less encouraging for the government.
Wells said, “At face value, the increase in Conservative support suggests that it has done some good for the government, but it would be wise to wait to see whether the increase lasts beyond the immediate headlines.”
“At the very least, other survey findings suggest that few people think the changes will help them or the country much,” he said.
