Ipsos Research Highlights - October 2015

Autumn brings a sweep of changes – global consumer optimism has taken a knock– especially in Latin America, and even the USA, the motor of growth in the developed world, has seen recent declines, as we see in our monthly Global Advisor study of 20 major economies. In the UK our most recent local tracking suggests consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest point since 2013.

In Britain, new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is seen as more honest than David Cameron – but much less competent, and is the least popular new leader of any major party since we began polling in the 1970s. Given the uphill battle Labour faces in winning the 2020 election, expect more ructions in the Labour party. Meanwhile George Osborne is now Conservative voters’ preferred leader after David Cameron stands down in 2020.

Looking ahead, while most polls continue to show that the British are likely to vote to remain in the EU, six in ten want more controls of freedom of movement, and 66% do not expect David Cameron will be able to get a good deal from the EU. If he does not, our latest polling reported here implies the referendum may be a very close run thing.

Elsewhere we have a host of events to which you are all invited, and we look at using social media for research.

As a Twitter addict, (@benatipsosmori) I have to remind myself that people I converse with are definitely not normal – as our analysis of using twitter for research this month shows, most tweets come from a tiny percentage of the 22% of people who use twitter. Something Alex Salmond forgot when he celebrated victory based on social media analysis ahead of last year’s Scottish referendum.

As ever, let us know what you think, and what you would like more coverage of in this update. All best Ben Page Chief Executive, Ipsos