UK: Voting intention – 14th January 2021
Labours lead rises as public approval of the government’s crisis handling drops
Labour have increased their vote share by one point, with the Tories dropping two, turning a one point Labour lead into a four point Labour lead. This is the joint highest lead we have recorded for Labour since the election (joint with 5-6 November 2020).
The public think the government has continued to do too little too late
One of the consistent themes of this pandemic has been a government who are petrified about being punished by the voters by putting in place too many restrictions, and a public crying out for further restrictions because they are petrified of the spread of the virus.
The data from this week’s poll is probably the most extreme example of this trend, and perhaps one of the reasons why we have seen such a drop in support for the government. The majority of the public (51%) now think the government are underreacting, compared to just 13% who think they are overreacting, and 30% who think they have got the balance right. A full threequarters, including 60% of those who voted Conservative in 2019, think they have acted too slowly to stop the spread. This compares to just 18% who think they have acted fast enough.
Just 30% (-1) now approve of how the government has handled Coronavirus, compared to 50% (+2) who disapprove.
You can find the full data tables here.
You can find the full report here.