8 in 10 Britons think Rishi Sunak’s government has done a bad job managing immigration

• Reform UK now polling at 7% - highest figure Ipsos have recorded.
• But only one in four think Labour would do a better job managing immigration.

The latest Ipsos Political Monitor, taken 1st – 7th December 2023, explores public attitudes to how Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government have managed immigration and whether Labour would do a better job, as well as current voting intention figures and satisfaction with the government and the party leaders.

8 in 10 think Conservatives doing a bad job on immigration

• 79% think Rishi Sunak’s government has done a bad job at managing immigration. This is up 2 points from July this year. 10% say his government has done a good job (down 3 points).
• 81% of 2019 Conservative voters agree Sunak’s government has done a bad job on immigration.

• But only 24% think Labour would do a better job managing immigration (-5 points from July). 40% think they would do about the same (+3 points) and 26% say they would do worse (no change).
• Just 11% of 2019 Conservative voters think Labour would do better. 53% of this group say they would do worse.

Voting intention

• Labour’s lead has fallen from 21 points to 17 since November.
• Labour 41% (-5 pts), Conservatives 24% (-1), Liberal Democrats 13% (+1), Green 9% (+3), Reform UK 7% (+3), other 6% (nc).
• Reform UK figure of 7% is the highest Ipsos have ever recorded for the party.

Leader satisfaction ratings

• 82% are dissatisfied with the way the government is running the country (+2 pts from November). 12% are satisfied (-1 pt).
• 21% are satisfied with the job Rishi Sunak is doing as Prime Minister (no change from November) and 69% they are dissatisfied (+3).
• 52% of current Conservative voters are satisfied with the job Sunak is doing (-10 points) and 41% are dissatisfied (+11).
• Keir Starmer’s ratings are largely unchanged from November, with his net rating staying at -21. 30% are satisfied with the job he is doing (+1pt) and 51% are dissatisfied (+1).

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos, said:

The issue of immigration and asylum has risen up the public agenda compared to last year, particularly for the Conservatives’ own supporters, so it’s not surprising that they want to take action on it.  But it isn’t having the impact the government are hoping for, with only 1 in 10 Britons giving them a ‘good job’ rating on the subject (even down slightly from the summer) and 8 in 10 of their own 2019 vote base critical.  Control is important to the public on immigration, and their views are more nuanced under the surface, but the Prime Minister needs to show he is taking charge of this issue.  This all on top of a backdrop of deep-rooted unhappiness with the government’s overall performance, and Rishi Sunak’s personal ratings continuing to falter (again, even among his own supporters).  Having said all that immigration is not an obvious vote winner for Labour either – their strengths lie elsewhere. Their own vote share has slipped this month, but they still retain a clear lead over the Conservatives.

Technical Note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,008 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone between the 1st to 7th December 2023. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.