Conservatives are trusted on their traditional strengths while the public prefer Labour on `softer' issues
Conservatives are trusted on their traditional strengths while the public prefer Labour on ‘softer’ issues
The Conservative Party is most trusted by the public to preserve law and order, encourage individuals to take responsibility for themselves and promote family values.
Labour are most trusted to give children and young people a good start in life and be fair to all sections of society
Liberal Democrats struggle to gain traction on many issues – although their best score is on protecting the environment
Newly released data from the Reuters/Ipsos Political Monitor shows that the public prefer the Conservatives on ‘hard issues’ such as law and order and individual responsibility while Labour has a softer image – trusted to be fair to all sections of society and giving people a good start in life.
Conservatives are most trusted to ‘encourage individuals to take responsibility for themselves – 46% trust the Conservatives most on this compared to 22% who say Labour and 7% the Liberal Democrats. Similarly four in ten (42%) people trust the Conservative Party most to preserve law and order while only a quarter (25%) prefer Labour. This is an area the Conservatives are traditionally strong in, and they remain more trusted than Labour despite the recent rioting in England.
Another traditional Conservative strength is being seen as the party of family values, indeed almost four in ten (37%) trust the Conservatives most to promote family values compared to around three in ten (28%) that trust Labour. Men trust the Conservatives on this more than women (42% vs. 33%).
Labour, however, hold a lead over the Conservatives on some of the more ‘caring’ issues. Four in ten (39%) people trust Labour most to give children and young people a good start in life compared to around a quarter (23%) who trust the Conservatives and one in nine (11%) the Liberal Democrats. Labour also have a fourteen point lead over the Conservatives on being trusted to be fair to all sections of society (34% and 20% respectively). Healing the divisions in British society – something perhaps particularly important since the riots – is also an area where Labour are more trusted than the other parties (28% compared with 22% for Conservatives and 13% Liberal Democrats).
Just one in ten (10%) people trust the Liberal Democrats most to restore faith in the political system, far less than the 27% and 22% that trust the Conservatives and Labour respectively. On protecting the environment all three parties rate similarly– one in five (19%) trust the Liberal Democrats most, while 17% trust Labour and 16% trust Conservatives, compared with 27% who choose other parties.
Ipsos’s Head of Political Research Gideon Skinner said:
"This latest poll suggests that regardless of the different parties’ attempts to update their image, the public still associates Labour and the Conservatives with many of their traditional values. Labour are seen by the public as the nice party – most trusted on the caring issues. The Conservatives meanwhile maintain a public image of law and order and individual responsibility – as well as holding the lead on the number one issue of the economy. The Liberal Democrats on the other hand – despite being a party in government – are struggling to have an issue they can call their own"
Technical details:
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,008 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 10-12 September 2011. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. Details of our previous release can be found here.
