New polling taken before the recent Autumn Statement has unveiled public attitudes to the economy, inflation and Rishi Sunak’s performance in delivering against his 5 key policy pledges announced earlier this year.
When asked how far various factors have contributed to falling inflation, Ipsos the public are split on the role of Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt.
Forty-six per cent think they have contributed a great deal or fair amount to falling inflation and 43 per cent say they have had not very much impact or have made no contribution at all.
Decisions made by the Bank of England (60 per cent) and the state of the global economy generally (58 per cent) are seen to have contributed more.
But more people (66 per cent) think that decisions made by current PM Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have contributed to the current difficulties facing the British economy in the first place (68 per cent say the same about the Conservative party’s economic policies during the last 13 years, and the same proportion cite decisions made by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng).
The Conservatives and the economy
Twenty-three per cent think Jeremy Hunt is doing a good job as Chancellor and 35 per cent think he is doing a bad job.
These figures have not changed much this year but last November they were 17 per cent and 29 per cent respectively (meaning that there has been an increase in both those saying good and bad job).
Meanwhile, on the cost of living specifically, 20 per cent think Hunt has being doing a good job tackling the cost of living crisis and 45 per cent say he has been doing a bad job.
Rishi Sunak pledges
Overall, the public continue to think Sunak’s pledges around easing the cost of living and giving people financial security (61 per cent), reducing NHS waiting times (55 per cent) and ensuring people get the NHS care they need more quicky (52 per cent) are most important to them.
Although 2019 Conservative voters also rank pledges around illegal immigration and economic growth as important.
The public also still think Sunak’s government are performing badly against the pledges that are most important to them.
Sixty-two per cent think his government are doing a bad job easing the cost of living, 69 per cent think it is doing a bad job reducing NHS waiting lists, 68 per cent say the same about ensuring people get the NHS care they need more quickly.
Halving inflation
On the other hand, given recent inflation figures, 27 per cent now think Sunak’s government has done a good job halving inflation this year (+13 points from September) but 43 per cent still think they have done a bad job (down 14 points in the same time period).
Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said of the findings: “These findings show that there is some improving public goodwill towards Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt in light of falling inflation but this has not yet led to a fundamental reassessment of the government’s record on the economy.
“Almost half think Sunak and Hunt have contributed a great deal or fair amount towards falling inflation. However, 6 in 10 still think this government is doing a bad job easing the cost of living and two-thirds think Sunak and Hunt’s actions have contributed towards difficulties facing the economy in the first place.”
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