Independent / Sunday Mirror Political Poll February 2017

Political poll about the favourability of politicians, with Voting Intention figures, on behalf of the Independent and Sunday Mirror.

President Trump

• Although half (52%) of the public do not agree with President Trump’s attempts to halt immigration from Muslim-majority countries, one third (33%) of the public agree with him and 29% would like to see a similar ‘travel ban’ introduced in the UK (although 55% would not support this).
• Half of the British public (47%) say that the Queen should meet President Trump if he visits Britain, although they are split over John Bercow banning him from Parliament (45% agree v 39% disagree).

 

Favourability

• A higher proportion of the public have a favourable opinion of Theresa May than have one of David Beckham (41% v 37%).
• Theresa May is still the UK politician most likely to be seen favourable and the only one with a positive net favourability score (+9).
• Despite recent negative coverage, David Beckham still has a positive net favourability score of +14.
• The public are more likely to be favourable toward Nigel Farage than they are toward Jeremy Corbyn (22% v 20%).
• More British people have a favourable opinion of Donald Trump (14%) than Tim Farron (11%), although President Trump’s negative scores are considerably worse (68% unfavourable v 26%).

 

NHS

• Two thirds of Britons (68%) agree that use of the NHS by overseas residents reduces the quality of care for British taxpayers.
• Half of the British public (49%) say they would not be prepared to pay to have treatment more quickly on the NHS, although 35% said they would be prepared to.

 

Voting intention

• When it comes to voting intention, the Conservatives are in a dominant position, with 41% of the vote and 15 points ahead of Labour (26%).
• The Liberal Democrats are level with UKIP – 11% of the British public say they would vote for each party.

 

Q. Do you have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of each of the following?

 

Statement	Favourable	Unfavourable	Neither	Don’t know	NET: Favourability
Theresa May	41% (NC)	32%	21%	6%	+9 (-2)
David Beckham	37%	23%	34%	6%	+14
Boris Johnson	32% (-1)	38%	24%	5%	-6 (NC)
Angela Merkel	28%	33%	27%	12%	-5
Nigel Farage	22% (-3)	55%	17%	6%	-33 (-7)
Jeremy Corbyn	20% (-4)	53%	20%	7%	-33 (-7)
John Bercow	15%	30%	28%	26%	-15
Donald Trump	14% (+1)	68%	14%	4%	-54 (-2)
David Davis	13%	22%	31%	35%	-9
Philip Hammond	13% (-2)	25%	34%	28%	-12 (NC)
Tim Farron	11%	26%	33%	31%	-15
Vladimir Putin	7%	68%	18%	8%	-61

Base: All respondents (n=2,021). *Brackets indicate change since December 2016

• Half of Labour voters (53%) see Jeremy Corbyn favourably and 18% view him unfavourably, compared to 82% of Conservative voters having a favourable opinion of Theresa May and 4% an unfavourable one.
• One in six of those who would vote for UKIP (15%) have a favourable opinion of Vladimir Putin, considerably higher than any other party group (e.g. compared to 6% of Conservative voters).
• Donald Trump’s favourability rating has only changed a little since December, suggesting that the first few weeks of his time in the White House have not affected the public’s perception of him.
• Those who intend to vote for UKIP are more likely to be favourable toward Donald Trump than unfavourable (42% v 29%) the reverse of voters for all other parties.

 

Q. Do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Statement	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
Use of the NHS by overseas residents reduces the quality of care for British taxpayers	68%	20%	13%
The Queen should meet President Trump if he visits Britain	47%	37%	16%
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow is right to refuse to invite President Trump to address Parliament	45%	39%	16%
The British economy will perform better when Article 50 is triggered	38%	26%	36%
In principle I would be prepared to pay to have treatment more quickly on the NHS	35%	49%	16%
President Trump was right to try and halt immigration from Muslim-majority countries temporarily	33%	52%	14%
The UK should follow the US and introduce its own ‘travel ban’ on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries	29%	55%	16%
The Labour Party should try to block Britain’s exit from the EU	24%	64%	12%

Base: All respondents (n=2,021).

• Half of those who would vote for Labour in a general election (53%) agree that the use of the NHS by overseas residents reduces quality of care for British taxpayers, as do 83% of Conservative voters and 93% of UKIP voters.
• The is no clear consensus among the British public on the issue of a President Trump visit to Britain, both regarding whether John Bercow was right to refuse to invite Trump (45% agree v 39% disagree) and if the Queen should meet Donald Trump (47% v 37%).
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the public say that the Labour party should not try and block Britain’s exit from the EU. Half of Labour voters are more likely to say the party should not try and block exit from the EU (48%), although a significant minority (39%) disagree.
• Three quarters of UKIP voters (75%) agree that the UK should introduce its own travel ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. A third (32%) of Conservative voters say the same, half (50%) disagree. A clear majority of Labour voters (69%) do not support a UK travel ban, and only one in five (19%) support it.
• Older members of the public are more likely to agree that the UK should introduce its own ‘travel ban’ than younger members (e.g. 15% of 18-24 year olds agree v 35% of 65+).
• Conservative voters are over twice as likely to be optimistic about the future of Britain’s economy than Labour voters, with 57% of Conservatives agreeing the economy will fare better after Article 50 is triggered compared to 24% of Labour voters. Only one in ten (9%) Conservative voters do not agree, compared to 42% of Labour voters and 55% of Lib Dem voters.

 

Voting intention

The Conservatives enjoy a 15 point lead over Labour while the Lib Dems are now on a level with UKIP.

 

Con      41%

Lab       26%

LD        11%

UKIP     11%

SNP      5%

Green   4%

Other   2%

 

• One in eight (12%) 2015 Labour voters now say that they will vote for the Lib Dems.
• Theresa May appears to be successfully attracting UKIP supporters, with one in five (20%) who voted for the party in 2015 now saying they will vote Conservative.

Date Published: 11th February 2017

Categories: Economy | Health | Opinion Formers | Politics | UK | Voting Intention

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 2,021 GB adults online between the 8th and 10th February 2017. Data were weighted to be demographically
representative of all GB adults. Data were also weighted by past vote recall. Voting intention figures are calculated using the
ComRes Voter Turnout Model. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

1. Independent-Sunday-Mirror-Political-Poll-February-2017-Data-Tables 0.02 MB.