Only on immigration is any party seen as best placed to handle the issue by more than quarter of Britons
Alongside the top issues facing the country, one of the questions YouGov has tracked over the last few years has been which party are seen as best to tackle many of those issues. Previously, just the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems were prompted in the question, but with the increasingly multi-party nature of British politics, Reform UK and the Greens have now been added for the first time. So, which of these five major parties are seen as best at handling the key issues?
Across the ten key issues we track, immigration is notable for being the only one on which more than a quarter of the public feel any political party is best placed to handle the issue, with 36% of Britons saying Reform UK stand in the best stead to tackle the problem. This is ahead of Labour on 12% and the Conservatives on 7%.
In fact, it is the only one of the ten on which any party was the most common answer, with ‘don’t know’ the top answer for the other nine issues, at between 25-32%. This is alongside 10-16% of the public explicitly stating that no party is best placed to handle the issues facing the country.
Nonetheless, among those selecting a party, Reform UK also lead on the issues of law and order and Brexit, with just under a quarter of Britons (23-24%) seeing them as best placed to handle the issues.
Labour retain a lead on the NHS, with 22% of Britons seeing them as the party that would handle the health service best, ahead of Reform UK on 12% and the Conservatives on 11%. One in five Britons (19-20%) also see Labour as best placed on the issues of housing, education and unemployment, with no other party seen as being in this position by more than 15% of the public.
The Conservatives still have relative strength on the issues of the economy and taxation, with 19% of Britons feeling they are best placed to handle either issue, more than the 14-16% who say of Labour or 12-14% who say so of Reform UK.
Britain’s defence and security is effectively a three-way tie, with Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK each seen as best-placed to handle the problem by 15-18% of the public.
On none of the issues polled are Britons most likely to see the Lib Dems or the Greens as the party that would handle the problem best, with the Lib Dems taking between 3-9% and the Greens 3-6% across the ten issues.
Explore the data for these trackers here
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Photo: Getty
