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Sunday Mirror / IoS / October Political 2015 Poll

Voting intention poll for Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday including additional questions on Boris Johnson, George Osborne and Labour’s economic credibility

BORIS JOHNSON LEADS GEORGE OSBORNE AS BEST PM

Boris Johnson narrowly leads George Osborne as the public’s choice of best Prime Minister according to a ComRes poll for tomorrow’s Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror. The Mayor of London would make a better prime minister than the Chancellor, say 39 per cent, as against 33 per cent who say Mr Osborne would be better – the rest say they don’t know.

But Conservative voters prefer Mr Osborne, by 48 per cent to 34 per cent, while much of Mr Johnson’s support comes from Labour voters, who prefer him by 44 per cent to 27 per cent and UKIP voters (46% to 28%).

  • By a margin of 40 per cent to 37 per cent, voters expect the outcome of the referendum to be for Britain to stay in the EU.
  • The Conservatives retain a commanding lead of 13 points, with no party’s level of support significantly changed from last month.

TRUST ON THE ECONOMY

  • David Cameron and George Osborne have and 19 point lead over Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell on who is trusted more on the economy. When asked to choose who they trust more on the economy, 48% of the public choose the Conservative pair, compared to 29% who say the Labour pair.
  • Most Britons (56%) think that if Labour were in government, it would borrow more money than the Conservatives. 21% think the Conservatives will borrow more than Labour would.
  • Just less than half (45%) agree that a Labour government would lead to economic chaos – one in three (33%) disagree. In January 2011, 42% agreed with the same statement.
  • Despite this, more Britons agree (40%) than disagree (32%) that Labour is right to oppose austerity.
  • Furthermore, just one in three British adults (34%) think that cutting tax credits for people who are in work is necessary to get the public finances in order. 43% disagree.

PARTY DIVISIONS

  • Nearly two thirds of the public say Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is divided, with just 16% saying it is divided.
  • By comparison, more people say David Cameron’s Conservative Party in united (43%) than divided (35%).

JEREMY CORBYN

  • 30% of Britons think that David Cameron was justified in saying that Jeremy Corbyn is a terrorist sympathiser, although 41% think that he was not.
  • Slightly more people disagree (40%) than agree (30%) that Jeremy Corbyn is turning out to be a strong leader.
  • 38% agree that Jeremy Corbyn is a threat to national security (35% disagree) – this compares to 35% who agreed with the same statement in September, suggesting that David Cameron’s conference speech attack on the Labour leader has so far had little impact on opinion.

CONSERVATIVE LEADER

  • Boris Johnson is thought to make a better Prime Minister than George Osborne. 39% of the public say that the London Mayor would make the better Prime Minister, compared to 33% who say George Osborne.
  • However, Osborne leads among Conservative voters (48% to Johnson’s 34%). Johnson is preferred by Labour voters (27% to 44%).

EU REFERENDUM

  • Britons are currently divided on what they think the result of the EU referendum will be: 37% think more people will vote to leave compared to 40% who think more people vote to stay.

HS2 HIGH-SPEED RAIL

  • More people disagree (39%) than agree (34%) that the planned high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham and the north would be expensive but worth it. This is little different from 2011 when the figures were 40% to 32%.

VOTING INTENTION

  • The conference season appears to have had little impact on the public’s voting intentions – the Conservatives (42%) retain a commanding lead over Labour (29%).

Date Published: 18th October 2015

Categories: Economy | GB | Media | Politics | Voting Intention

Client: Sunday Mirror / Independent on Sunday

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 2,051 GB adults online between 14th and 15th October 2015. 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.

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