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Voters support key policies put forward by Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak but overwhelming majorities suggest people think it’s time for a change of government, according to an exclusive poll. I show.
Labour’s six “first steps to government”, announced a week before the Prime Minister declared a general election on 4 July, received strong support from voters, according to a BMG Research survey. I.
There was strong support for severely limiting public spending to keep taxes, inflation and mortgages low (57% in favour, 13% against), 40,000 extra NHS appointments (77% in favour, 5% against), creating a new border force (69% against, 8%), the creation of Great British Energy (60% against, 9%), cracking down on anti-social behaviour (78% against, 5%) and hiring 6,500 teachers (66% against, 9%).
Mr Sunak’s support has also grown: his “triple lock plus” plan to ensure state pensions are never taxed was backed by 68% of voters, with just 10% opposed.
Voters had mixed feelings about the plan to require all 18-year-olds to do monthly volunteer work in the community or serve full-time as a non-combatant in the military (40 percent in favor, 36 percent against).
But from the perspective of the Conservative Party, which is adopting a defensive election strategy to protect as many seats as possible, the policy is an improvement, with support from key voter groups such as voters over 65 (53 percent support) and current and former 2019 Conservative supporters (69 percent and 49 percent respectively).
Meanwhile, more voters opposed (49%) than supported (28%) Labour’s plan to lower the voting age to 16.
Despite supporting Labour’s stage one announcement, voters were less clear-cut about the party’s position on key policy areas such as the economy, the NHS and the cost of living than they were a month ago.
The exception was immigration, where Labour added more detail to its plans to tackle the small boat crisis, improving clarity by 5 percentage points.
Robert Struthers, head of polling at BMG, said: “Looking at the range of policies announced just before or in the first week of the election campaign, Labour’s policies have broad support overall. Of the 13 policies we surveyed, five of the top six were part of Labour’s first steps towards winning power. Particularly popular are policies on anti-social behaviour, NHS appointments and the Border Force.”
“Meanwhile, Conservative policies tend to be less popular, although policies such as increasing the tax-free allowance for pensions are relatively well-regarded.”
“Interestingly, despite having more popular policies, the public have a much less clear idea of ​​Labour’s plans in almost every key area compared to when we last asked this question a few months ago – with the exception of immigration.”
“This suggests that Starmer may have some work to do to communicate his policies as the campaign progresses, but as things stand, the lack of clarity is not hindering his election chances.”
“The Conservative government’s national service policy, which grabbed many of the headlines in the first week of the election campaign, is at face value unpopular, with roughly equal support and opposition. But the policy has a more targeted and strategically useful appeal than the headline numbers suggest.”
Despite supporting both parties’ key policy announcements, the vast majority of voters appear to support Labour, which maintains a 16-point lead over the Conservatives.
When it comes to voting in the election, a majority of voters say “change” and “a new approach” (56%) are more important than “stability” and “sticking to the plan” (27%), suggesting Labour’s overall message is more popular than the Conservatives’.
Former voters who voted Conservative in 2019 are even more likely to think it’s time for a change (68%) than to stick to the plan (18%).
BMG Research conducted online interviews with 1,500 British adults between 28-29 May. BMG is a member of the British Opinion Research Council and is bound by its regulations.