YouGov: How the public received the budget
12:11 pm - March 25th 2011
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Polling company YouGov have sent out an email with polling numbers on public opinion, after the budget.
As with the last Budget, which polled well immediately, but opinions turned sour fairly quickly after, its worth taking these with a pinch of salt. The numbers are likely to turn back to their long term trend within weeks.
YouGov say:
• George Osborne and the Coalition’s economic policies are now viewed negatively, a reversal of the situation immediately after his first emergency budget back in June 2010.
• Back in June 2010 43% of people felt that he was doing a ‘good job’ as Chancellor of the Exchequer, but that figure has now fallen to 34%.
• In contrast most people now believe he is doing a ‘bad job’ with that figure increasing from 24% to 40% over the same time period.
• Over a quarter of respondents (27%) still do not know if he is doing a good or bad job, down only 6% since his first budget.
• After the Chancellor’s first budget it was felt that the way the government was cutting spending to reduce the deficit was both good for the economy and being done fairly. The opposite is now true.
• The proportion who feel it is good for the economy has fallen from 53% to 39% while those who think it is bad has now risen to 46%, seven percent ahead and a rise of 18%.
• Similarly those who feel it is being done fairly has fallen from 45% to 31% while unfairly has risen from 34% to 56%. In addition a majority (53%) feel it is being done too quickly, with 30% thinking it is about the right pace and only 6% that it is taking place too slowly.
• However, nearly three out of five respondents (59%) felt the way the government is cutting spending is necessary, compared to less than a third (31%) who feel it is unnecessary.
The number of people who believe Osborne is not telling the truth about the state of Britain’s economy is just 36% – exactly the same figure that believe he is not.
Back in June 2010 46% felt he was truthful compared to 24% who did not.
But its also not all good news for Labour.
The Coalition is still ahead of the Labour Party when respondents are asked who they would most trust to make the right decisions about dealing with the deficit. 38% trust the Coalition, 14% ahead of Labour on 24%.
42% blame Labour for the financial crisis, while 25% blame the Conservatives and a further 21% say both.
Overall 44% of respondents felt the budget was fair, compared to 31% who felt it was not. Back in June 2010 50% felt the Chancellor’s first budget was fair.
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Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
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Story Filed Under: News
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Reader comments
OK, this is wierd:
42% blame Labour for the financial crisis, while 25% blame the Conservatives and a further 21% say both.
A quater of those surveyed (with weighting etc – be nice to see the actual figures when they are available) thought the Conservatives alone were to blame for the financial crisis, and nearly half the population said they had some involvement?
Clearly I missed a period of Conservative government, or the population is suffering from collective amnesia? You can argue whether it was Labour’s fault or not (I’d suggest blaming certian people within Labour myself…) but blaming the Conservatives suggests something about knee-jerk and tribal reactions.
Watchman: I suppose if people consider “the financial crisis” to include (or perhaps only refer to) the instability and uncertainty in the economy right now, then it’s entirely possible to blame the Conservatives for it still being ongoing or for not doing enough to fix it.
@1 watchman
Also, exactly what is it you feel the Tories would have been doing differently if they had been in power earlier?
I don’t recall them arguing for the kind of stricter regulation which everyone now says is essential prior to 2008….or did I miss something? New Labour was simply carrying on from where earlier Tory administrations left off; if anything the Tories would have been less likely than Labour to have done anything to control the banks.
The reason people blame the Tories because both Labour and the Tories under Thatcher went down the route of the financial sector, Banking was the way forward they removed anything which was put in place to control the banking and it ended up nearly destroying the world, it was Thatcher, Major, Blair, the only person that did little was brown he was just the idiot who took the rest of the controls away.
Also, let’s be honest, if people don’t like the Government, they tend to blame them for absolutely everything regardless of whether it was really their fault or not.
That’s especially true in the rather polarised political environment we have, and not helped by Osborne and Clegg blaming Labour for everything from Libya to the unsatisfactory state of their breakfast eggs in the morning.
The Tories, and Lib Dems, will get that the public are pissed at the cuts after the may elections when their numbers are culled.
Reactions: Twitter, blogs
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Liberal Conspiracy
YouGov: How the public received the budget http://bit.ly/gJan90
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Liberal Conspiracy
YouGov: How the public received the budget http://bit.ly/gJan90
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Derek Bryant
RT @libcon: YouGov: How the public received the budget http://bit.ly/gJan90
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sunny hundal
Just 36% of voters believe George Osborne is telling the truth about the state of UK's finances. Was 50% in June 2010 – http://bit.ly/gJan90
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manishta sunnia
RT @sunny_hundal Just 36% of voters believe George Osborne is telling the truth about the state of UK's finances. http://bit.ly/gJan90
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Jose Aguiar
RT @libcon: YouGov: How the public received the budget http://bit.ly/gJan90
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