ITV News Index Negative Campaigns

Poll of 2,000 British adults on the general election campaigns run by the parties for ITV News

CONSERVATIVE NEGATIVE ATTACKS ON MILIBAND MAKE THEM LOOK NASTY

Following the Conservative attacks on Ed Miliband last week led by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, a new poll by ComRes for ITV shows that around half (46%) of Britons think the Conservatives have shown themselves to be the nasty party. Indeed, the message doesn’t seem to be cutting through with half (51%) of Britons disagreeing that Ed Miliband beating his brother to be leader of the Labour Party shows he has a bad moral character, just one in four (23%) agree.

On the campaigns more generally, the Conservative campaign is more likely to be described as “dirty” than the Labour campaign (30% and 20% respectively), while both the Conservative and Labour campaigns are described as boring and negative by a third of Britons.

Only 17% of Britons describe the Labour election campaign as ‘inspiring’, and only 14% of Britons say the same about the Conservative campaign.

1. In the past couple of weeks, how would you describe the election campaigns and what you have seen and heard from each of the following parties?

	Lab	Con
Boring	33%	32%
Negative	31%	33%
Confusing	30%	26%
Positive	29%	26%
Dirty	20%	30%
Bold	18%	17%
Inspiring	17%	14%
Haven’t heard anything from them	17%	17%

Base: GB adults (n=2,036).

Findings in detail

Priorities for the Government

• The NHS remains the biggest priority for Britons (49%) with immigration in second place on 44%. Immigration has fallen as a priority by 5 points since January compared to the NHS just down 1.
• Those aged 65+ (57%) are far more likely to say controlling immigration is a priority than those aged 18-24 (22%).

1. Which of the following do you think should be the biggest priority for the Government at the present time?

Statement	%
Managing the NHS	49%
Controlling immigration	44%
Keeping the cost of everyday items, such as food, energy and travel	23%
Making sure that the benefits of economic growth are felt by all	20%
Promoting UK economic growth	20%
Reducing the Government’s budget deficit	18%
Making the welfare system fairer	18%
Providing adequate care for the elderly	17%
Redefining Britain’s relationship with the EU	16%
Improving housing affordability	16%
Improving the education system	10%
Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour	8%
Don’t know	6%

Base: All GB adults (n=2,036).

Trust in parties on the issues

• On the most important issue (managing the NHS), Labour lead the Conservatives by 13 points (37% to 24%), while UKIP lead the Conservatives on controlling (39% to 18%).
• Despite the campaign beginning, very little has changed in terms of trust in the parties on these key policy issues.

Q: Which party do you trust most to…

 

Statement	Lab	Con	Lib Dem	UKIP	Don’t know
Promote UK economic growth	26%(+2)	39%(NC)	4%(-1)	7%(-1)	24%(NC)
Make sure that the benefits of economic growth are felt by all	34%(+2)	24%(+1)	8%(NC)	7%(NC)	27%(NC)
Redefine Britain’s relationship with the EU	21%(+1)	26%(+1)	4%(-1)	23%(-1)	26%(+1)
Manage the NHS	37%(+1)	24%(+1)	7%(+1)	6%(NC)	25%(-3)
Control immigration	17%(+2)	18%(-2)	3%(-1)	39%(+1)	24%(NC)
Keep down the cost of everyday items, such as food, energy and travel	34%(+2)	25%(+1)	6%(-1)	6%(+1)	29%(-3)
Improve the education system	31%(+1)	26%(-2)	10%(+1)	6%(NC)	27%(-1)
Improve housing affordability	36%(NC)	20%(-3)	7%(NC)	7%(+1)	30%(+1)
Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour	23%(+1)	31%(-1)	5%(NC)	10%(+1)	31%(-1)
Reduce the Government’s budget deficit	21%(+1)	43%(-1)	4%(NC)	6%(+1)	25%(-2)
Make the welfare system fairer	34%(NC)	26%(+1)	9%(NC)	8%(NC)	23%(NC)
Provide adequate care for the elderly	34%(NC)	19%(-2)	9%(NC)	7%(+2)	31%(NC)

Base: All GB adults (n=2,036). Numbers in bracket are percentage point change since 20^th March 2015

Election Campaigns

1. In the past couple of weeks, how would you describe the election campaigns and what you have seen and heard from each of the following parties?

 

	Lab	Con
Boring	33%	32%
Negative	31%	33%
Confusing	30%	26%
Positive	29%	26%
Dirty	20%	30%
Bold	18%	17%
Inspiring	17%	14%
Haven’t heard anything from them	17%	17%

Base: GB adults (n=2,036).

Party Leaders

1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

 

Statement	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know
Ed Miliband is a risk to Britain’s safety	34%	40%	25%
David Cameron has been effective against threats to Britain’s safety such as ISIS and Vladimir Putin	34%	35%	30%
Ed Miliband will stop at nothing to get into power	40%	32%	28%
Facing down so many personal attacks shows that Ed Miliband is a resilient leader	43%	33%	24%
Ed Miliband beating his brother to be leader of the Labour Party shows he is a strong leader	28%	44%	27%
Ed Miliband beating his brother to be leader of the Labour Party shows he has a bad moral character	23%	51%	26%
It is right that politicians attack their opponent’s character as it is important in understanding who to vote for	25%	53%	22%
By personally attacking Ed Miliband, the Conservatives have shown themselves to be the nasty party	46%	33%	22%

Base: GB adults (n=2,036).

 

 

Date Published: 14th April 2015

Categories: GE2015 | Politics | Public and communities | UK

Client: ITV News

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 2,036 British adults online between 10^th and 12^th April 2015. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

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