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BBC Daily Politics Economic Downturn Poll

A public opinion survey on behalf of BBC Daily Politics.

Date Published: 22 Oct 2009

Categories: Economy | Politics | Public and communities | UK

Description

BBC Daily Politics Economic Downturn Poll October 2009

ComRes interviewed 1008 GB adults online between 21st-22nd October 2009. Data were weighted to be representative demographically of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

• David Cameron and George Osborne have the edge over Labour and the Lib Dems in terms of public confidence on the economy. Nearly one third of people (31%) think that George Osborne and David Cameron have shown they have the best ideas for tackling the banking crisis and the recession that followed.  This compares to 27% of people who think the same for Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling.  People are more likely to say “none” of the political parties have shown they have the best ideas for tackling these issues (17% do so) than say Vince Cable and Nick Clegg have shown they have (12% of people nominate the Lib Dems’ team).

• However, Cameron and Osborne haven’t made much ground since April 2009, when exactly the same percentage of people (31%) thought that George Osborne and David Cameron could be most trusted on the economy. Over the same period, there has been 4% drop in the percentage of people who think that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling can be trusted the most on the economy (April 31%, October 27%).

• George Osborne and David Cameron lead Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling on this measure across all social groups apart from C1s (where it is nearly neck-and-neck on 27% for the Tories and 28% plumping for the Labour team).

• George Osborne and David Cameron lead Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling on this topic across all regions, apart from Scotland (where Labour has the edge) and the South East (where there is a dead heat).  In Scotland there is a higher percentage of people who think that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling (33%) have had the best ideas than those people who think that George Osborne and David Cameron (23%) have had the best ideas. An equal percentage of people in the South East (30%) think that David Cameron and George Osborne and Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have shown they have the best ideas.

• The Tories also have a slight edge among young people with more 18-24yr olds nominating Osborne and Cameron than the PM and the Chancellor on this measure. People aged 18-34 (36%) and 25-34 (33%) are more likely to think that George Osborne and David Cameron have shown they have the best ideas than those people aged 45-54 (27%) and 55-64 (31%). 

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