Voters’ message to Tories: ‘We want change’

Voters backed key policies put forward by both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, but overwhelming opinion suggests the public believes it is time for a change of government, according to an exclusive poll by AND to introduce.

Although Sunak’s recent policy announcements, including civil service and the so-called triple lock, were supported, with a majority of voters – 56% – saying that change or a new approach was more important than stability or “sticking to the plan” (27%).

This will be a particular concern for Sunak because a key part of his campaign message is that his economic plan works.

Labour’s six “first steps”, announced a week before the Prime Minister announced a snap election on July 4, were met with strong support from voters, according to a BMG Research survey conducted for the government. AND.

There was strong support for tight cuts in public spending to keep taxes, inflation and mortgages low (57% compared to 13% opposed), 40,000 extra NHS visits (77-5), a new Border Security Command (69 -8), the creation of Great British Energy (60-9), the crackdown on anti-social behavior (78-5) and the hiring of 6,500 teachers (66-9).

Sunak also received support as his ‘triple lock plus’ plan to ensure the state pension is never taxed was backed by 68 per cent of voters compared to 10 per cent who oppose it.

Voters’ feelings about his national service plan, which would require all 18-year-olds to volunteer monthly in their local communities or serve full-time, non-combat duty in the armed forces, were mixed (40% supported, 36% opposed).

However, viewed through the lens of the Conservatives fighting a defensive campaign strategy to save as many seats as possible, this policy is improving as key voter groups such as the over-65s (53% support) and current and former Tory voters in 2019 (69% and 49% respectively) support it.

However, the Labor Party’s plan to lower the voting age to 16 was opposed by more voters (49%) than supported it (28%).

Despite support for Labour’s announcement of its first steps, voters were not much more aware than they were a month ago of the party’s position on key policy areas such as the economy, the NHS and the cost of living, among others.

The exception is immigration, after Labor added more detail to its plan to tackle the small boat crisis, increasing transparency by 5%.

BMG pollster Oliver White said: “We also asked a simple question to capture the choice facing the country: do people want to change the current plan or stick with it?

“More than half of the British public support a fresh approach, which is twice the number of people who prefer to stick to the current plan. “Labour’s strategy – putting the message of change at the heart of its campaign – seems to capture this moment.”

Robert Struthers, head of polling at BMG, said: “Looking at the range of policies announced just before or in the first week of the campaign, Labour’s policies generally have wider appeal. Of the 13 policies we tested, five of the top six are part of Labour’s first steps towards government. Labour’s policies on anti-social behavior, NHS visits and border security orders are particularly popular.

“Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ policy is less popular, although their policy of increasing the tax-free amount of pensions and annuities is relatively good.

“Interestingly, despite having more popular policies, the public are generally less confident about Labour’s plans in almost all key areas compared to when we last polled this question a few months ago; immigration is an exception.

“This suggests that Starmer may have some work to do in getting his agenda across as the campaign unfolds, but as it stands, the lack of clarity is not a hindrance to their electoral chances.

“The Conservatives’ national services policy, which made headlines in the first week of the campaign, is on the face of it less popular, with support and opposition almost equal. However, the policy has a more targeted and strategically useful appeal than mainstream support numbers suggest.

Despite support for both parties’ major policy announcements, overwhelming voter sentiment appeared to favor Labor, and the party retained a 16-point lead over the Tories.

On May 28–29, BMG Research conducted online interviews with a 1,500 GB representative sample of adults. BMG is a member of the British Polling Council and follows its rules