Opinium’s latest poll reveals that Labour maintains a lead of 15 points, compared to 16 points a fortnight ago. Labour has 42% (-2) of the vote share, while the Conservatives are on 27% (-1).
The smaller parties made gains this week at the expense of the major parties, with the Green party at 7% (+1) and Reform UK at 8% (+2). The Liberal Democrats remained at 10%, and the SNP on 3%.
Despite dropping slightly from a net approval rating of +1 a fortnight ago to net -2 this week, the spell Keir Starmer cast at conference has yet to wear off – his approval rating remaining well above the net -8% he had prior to the Labour conference. The same cannot be said for Rishi Sunak’s scary net approval rating of -25%, unchanged from a fortnight ago.
Starmer also leads by 8 points on who would make the best prime minister 31% (-1), compared to Sunak on 23% (n/c) – however the most common response from UK voters was ‘none of these’ 34% (+1).
Eerie economy
Over two thirds (68%) of voters think the economy is in a bad state, compared to only 8% who think it’s in a good state. Inflation and the cost of living are the main drivers of people’s concerns on the economy, with over four in five (83%) worried about it. This is followed by the state of the economy generally (76%) and recession (68%).
Only 17% think the government is in control of the economic situation, while over two thirds (64%) this it’s not. In addition, fewer than three in ten (28%) 2019 Conversative voters think the government are in control of the economy.
Monstrous margins
Labour now leads on all the major economic indicators and has made the most improvement on its weakest attributes. Labour has the largest leads on “improving public services” (+25%), “helping people buy houses” (+18%) and “improving your financial situation” (+11%).
It has growing lead, when compared to July (when Opinium last asked voters this question), on generally “running the economy” (from +2% to +7%).
In addition, it has taken a lead on “bringing down the national debt and deficit” (from a Conservative lead of 3% in July to a Labour lead of 3%).
James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium said: “As we mark a year of double-digit poll leads for Labour during Rishi Sunak’s premiership, the prime minister struggles to get away from two essential facts: the public are incredibly worried about the current state of the economy and trust Labour more to respond to all of those concerns.
“Unless both of those facts can change, don’t be surprised to find the remarkable stability of recent polls to continue.”
