The British public think improving the NHS is the most important of Keir Starmer’s 5 missions

• Public much more likely to think Labour would do a good job improving the NHS than the Conservatives (and breaking down barriers to opportunity for children)
• Public more divided on whether Labour can deliver on growth, safer streets and clean energy – though they are more confident Labour can deliver than the Conservatives

New research by Ipsos explores public attitudes to Keir Starmer’s 5 key missions for Britain. The research asks the public to rate which missions are most important to them and whether they think the current Conservative government, or a hypothetical future Labour government would do a good job delivering on these missions.

Which of Starmer’s 5 missions do the public prioritise?

When asked which of Keir Starmer’s five missions are the most important, two in three (67%) say building an NHS fit for the future was the most important priority. This was the most important of the 5 pledges for both 2019 Labour (70%) and Conservative voters (65%).

This is followed by around one in three prioritising making Britain’s streets safe (33%) and securing Britain the highest sustained growth in the G7 (30%). One in five (21%) selected making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 as the most important priority and breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child (20%).

Which party would best deliver Keir Starmer’s 5 missions?

Our poll asked whether a Labour government led by Keir Starmer or the current Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak would do a good job or a bad job at delivering in these 5 areas.

In terms of which party would do a good job, Labour leads the Conservatives on each mission, with its largest lead coming on building an NHS that is fit for the future (41% to 19%) and its smallest lead on securing Britain the highest sustained economic growth in the G7 (29% to 25%). 

The public also consider the current Conservative government to be much more likely to do a bad job delivering in these areas than a hypothetical Labour one. This sentiment is particularly strong on the NHS where 53% think the Conservatives would do a bad job building an NHS that is fit for the future, compared to 28% that say the same about Labour.

Director of Politics at Ipsos in the UK, Keiran Pedley, said of the findings:

It is striking how much the British public appear to prioritise improving the NHS of Keir Starmer’s 5 key pledges. This is also the mission the public think Labour would do the best job on relative to the Conservatives. These findings show the extent of the political challenge faced by the Conservatives in this area.
The picture is less clear in other areas. The public are split on whether Labour can deliver safe streets or global leadership in clean energy provision, whilst Labour still has work to do to show that it is better placed than the Conservatives to deliver economic growth.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,140 Britons aged 18+. Interviews were conducted online from 3-6 March 2023.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.