Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Does public opinion favor the new UK government?

The public now trusts the new government, but doesn't expect much. Does that mean that politically, the coalition doesn't have to do much?

And then there's the Social Mobility Tsar. Social Mobility Tsar? The idea has majority support in a country with an aristocracy. More titles anyone?

Unemployment is Biggest Economic Concern for Britons

In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,006 British adults, 86 per cent of respondents say the economy is in poor or very poor shape. Almost two thirds of respondents (63%) feel the same way about their own financial situation…

In the next six months, only 13 per cent of Britons think the economy will see a recovery. In contrast, 32 per cent of respondents think the situation will worsen further, and half (49%) expect things to remain the same…

Unemployment remains the top concern among Britons (40% have worried about it affecting their household in the past two months)…

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, remains the most trusted leader to handle the economy (51%). Prime Minister David Cameron is trusted by 47 per cent of Britons to make the right economic decisions (43% distrust him). Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has the confidence of 41 per cent of respondents (46% distrust him).

Fewer respondents express confidence in George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer (37%), and Labour Shadow Chancellor Alistair Darling (28%).

By a wide margin, the Conservatives remain favoured over Labour to rein in the national debt (57% to 18%), end the recession (44% to 25%), and control inflation (47% to 25%). Labour (38%) is slightly on top of the Tories (33%) in the category of creating jobs.

From August 20 to August 22, 2010, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among 2,006 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

Most Britons Endorse the Creation of Social Mobility Tsar Position

In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,001 British adults, 56 per cent of respondents support the creation of the social mobility tsar position, while 28 per cent are opposed.

The social mobility tsar will advise the Prime Minister on how to break down social barriers for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and help those who feel they cannot have access to top jobs due to race, religion, gender or disability…

From August 17 to August 19, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,001 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2%

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Labels: leadership, politics, public opinion, UK