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Conservative Party Conference Polling – Sept 2021

Polling amongst UK adults ahead of the 2021 Conservative Party Conference

Just 36% of UK adults say Brexit has been a success – Savanta ComRes

  • Half UK adults say Brexit has been a failure (52%). Just 36% say it has been a success
  • A quarter of Leavers (26%) and a third of Con voters (32%) say it has been a failure
  • One in five Con voters say that a policy to re-join the EU would improve the Conservative’s chances at the next election (19%)
  • Over half Con voters say that continued issues with supply chains will worsen their chances at the next election (53%)
  • One in five Con voters say the party is ‘too right-wing’ (21%)

Has Brexit been a success or failure?

Overall amongst UK adults, half say that Brexit has been a failure (52%). This includes a third of Conservative voters (32%) and a quarter of Leavers who say the same (26%).

Just over a third of adults overall say it has been a success (36%), rising to three in five Conservative voters (58%) and Leave voters (62%).

Those who voted for Labour and Lib Dem are more than three times as likely to say that Brexit has been a failure (Lab 71%, LDM 70%) than those who say it have been a success (Lab 23%, LDM 21%).

Women in the UK are significantly less likely that men to say that Brexit has been a success (29% vs 44%). Likewise, over half of women say it has been a failure (55%), compared to half of men who say the same (49%).

Electoral impact of a Conservative policy to re-join the EU

One in five Conservative voters say that a policy to re-join the EU would improve the Conservative’s chances at the next election (19%), with around one in six Leavers saying the same (16%).

Despite this, a majority of both Conservative voters (57%) and Leavers (61%) say that such a policy would worsen their chances.

Both Labour (45% vs 24%) and Lib Dem (46% vs 21%) voters are almost twice as likely to say that this policy would improve the Conservative’s chances, than worsen them.

Young adults are the most likely age group (42%) to say that a policy to re-join the EU would improve the Conservative’s chances of winning the next election. The proportion falls to a third of those aged 35-54 (35%) and a quarter of those aged 55+ (23%).

Electoral impact of supply chain issues

Over half 2019 Conservative voters say that continued issues with the UK’s supply chain will worsen their chances at the next election (53%). A quarter say it will make no difference (26%).

Those aged 55+ (63%) are significantly more likely to say that continued supply chain issues will harm the Conservatives at the ballot box than those aged 35-54 (42%) and 18-34 (26%).

Electoral impact of large increases in gas and electricity prices

Over half UK adults say that large increases in gas and electricity price would harm the Conservatives at the ballot box (53%). Just one in five (22%) say that it would make no difference.

And, the feeling that it would harm the Conservatives is even higher amongst their own voters, of which three in five (61%) say it would worsen their chances at the next election. Just under a quarter say that it would make no difference (23%).

Electoral impact of forming an electoral pact in key marginal seats with the Reform UK party

Whilst a plurality of Conservative voters think that an electoral pact with Reform would make no difference to their chances at the next election (31%), equal proportions say that it would improve their chances (25%) or worsen them (25%).

Leave voters are equally split with, again, a quarter saying either that it would improve the Conservative’s chances (26%) as those who say it would worsen them (25%).

Is the Conservative Party too left-wing, about right, or too right-wing?

A third of UK adults say that the Conservative Party is too right-wing (33%), including one in five of their own voters from the 2019 General Election (21%).

A quarter of Leave voters also say the party is too right-wing (25%), with the figure unsurprisingly much higher amongst Remainers (46%), 2019 Labour voters (49%), and 2019 Lib Dem voters (50%).

Over half 2019 Conservative voters say the part is ‘about right’ on the political spectrum (53%), with just one in eight saying the party is now too left­-wing (12%).

Date Published: 05/10/2021

Categories: Politics

Client: Savanta ComRes

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,093 UK adults aged 18+ online from 24-26 September 2021, and 2,112 UK adults aged 18+ online from 17-19 September 2021. Data were weighted by age, sex, region and SEG. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

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