The proportion of Britons who think the government is handling the economy well has grown, while headline grabbing immigration policies do little to shift public opinion
The economy, health, and immigration are the top three most important issues facing Britain at this time, according to the public.
However, while public opinion on the government’s handling of immigration and the NHS has remained relatively unchanged in recent months, it has shifted more positively on government handling of the economy.
Days after chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget, a fifth of Britons say they think the government is handling the economy “fairly well” (19%) or “very well” (2%), the highest proportion recorded since June last year as thinking the economy is being handled well overall and up slightly from 17% earlier in the month.
Likewise, the seven in ten people (71%) now saying the economy is being handled either “fairly badly” (28%) or “very badly” (43%), is down from 77% earlier this month and the lowest proportion recorded since July last year.
The proportion of the public who think the government is handling the economy badly hit a high of 89% in October last year, shortly after then chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered his much-criticised ‘mini-budget’.
Then, just 5% of Britons thought the economy was being handled well.
Eight in ten Britons think the government is handling immigration badly
Suella Braverman’s contentious Rwanda policy and the continuing efforts of migrants to cross the English Channel in small boats have seen immigration remain close to the top of the news agenda in recent weeks.
YouGov’s latest tracker shows 81% of Britons believe the government is handling immigration badly, including 56% who say it is handling the issue “very badly”.
In contrast, around one in ten people believe the government is handling immigration “fairly well” (10%) or “very well” (1%).
However, despite headline grabbing immigration policies, the proportions of Britons who think the issue is being handled badly or well by the government has stayed relatively stable since November last year.
Then, just 6% of the public thought the government was handling immigration well and 86% thought the issue was being handled badly - the highest level of belief the government is handling the issue badly recorded since YouGov began tracking opinion on the issue in 2019.
Eight in ten Britons think the government is handling the NHS badly
YouGov’s tracker data shows little change in recent months in how the public think the government is handling the NHS.
Eight in ten people (81%) now think the health service is being handled badly, including 58% who believe it’s being handled “very badly”.
In contrast, 13% believe the government is handling the NHS well, including just 1% who say it’s handling the health service “very well”.
The proportion of Britons who say the government is handling the health service badly overall has stayed between 80% and 86% since early November, when the 80% who said so was the highest proportion recorded since June 2019, when YouGov’s tracking began.
Similarly, the proportion who say the government is handling the NHS well overall has stayed between 9% and 13% since November.
Picture: Getty
