MORI Political Monitor July 1998
Political Attitudes in Great Britain for July 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 22 July 1998 MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,796 adults aged 18+ at 151 sampling points across Great Britain between 17-21 July 1998.
Q1 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? (If undecided or refused at Q1) Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support? - Base: 1796
% Conservative 28 Labour 53 Lib Dem 14 Scot / Welsh Nationalist 4 Green Party 1 Referendum Party 1 Other * Would not vote 9 Undecided 6 Refused 1
Q3 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the Government is running the country? Q4 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Blair is doing his job as Prime Minister? Q5 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Hague is doing his job as leader of the Conservative Party? Q6 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Ashdown is doing his job as Leader of the Liberal Democrats? - Base: 939
Satisfied Dissatisfied Don't know % % % Government 50 35 15 Blair 62 28 10 Hague 24 49 27 Ashdown 51 20 29
Q7 What would you say is the most important issue facing Britain today?
Q8 What do you see as other important issues facing Britain today? - Base: 939
Q7 Q7/8 % % National Health Service / Hospitals 13 45 Education / schools 13 40 Unemployment / factory closure / lack of industry 16 28 Common Market / EU / Europe / Single European Currency 14 22 Crime / law & order / violence / vandalism 6 19 Economy / economic situation 8 17 Pensions / social security 3 13 Poverty / inequality 3 9 Housing 1 8 Pollution / environment 2 8 Transport / public transport * 8 Drug abuse 2 7 Morality / individual behaviour 1 5 Northern Ireland 2 5 Inflation / prices 1 4 Defence / foreign affairs 1 3 Race relations / immigration / immigrants 1 3 Taxation 1 3 Pound / exchange rate / value of pound 1 2 Animal welfare 0 1 Beef / BSE / Mad Cow Disease * 1 Countryside / rural life * 1 Local government / council tax 0 1 Nuclear weapons / nuclear war / disarmament * 1 Scottish / Welsh Assembly / Devolution * 1 AIDS 0 * Privatisation * * Trade unions / strikes 0 0 Other 4 11 Don't know 6 5
Q9 Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next 12 months? - Base: 939
% Improve 19 Stay the same 33 Get worse 40 Don't know 8
Q10 Overall, how well or badly do you think Parliament works? - Base: 939
1991 and 1995 'State of the Nation' MORI / Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd
1991 1995 1998 % % % Very well 5 4 4 Fairly well 54 39 49 Neither well nor badly 21 22 19 Fairly badly 12 19 17 Very badly 4 11 4 Don't know 4 6 7
Q11 How much, if anything, do you feel you know about the House of Lords? - Base: 939
1991 and 1995 'State of the Nation' MORI / Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd
1991 1995 1998 % % % Great deal 1 3 2 Fair amount 18 19 14 Just a little 41 40 35 Hardly anything at all 39 36 46 Never heard of * * * Don't know 1 1 3
Q12 The Government is currently considering the future of the House of Lords. At present the House of Lords consists partly of hereditary peers, who have inherited the right to sit from their ancestors, and partly of life peers appointed by the Prime Minister of the day. On this card are a series of options. In your opinion, which one of these would be the best option for the future of the House of Lords? - Base: 939
% Keep things as they are 21 Remove the hereditary peers, with all new peers nominated by the Government 11 Replace the House of Lords with a new second chamber partly elected by the public and partly nominated by the government 23 Replace the House of Lords with a new second chamber entirely elected by the public 25 Abolish the House of Lords altogether 12 Other 1 None of these 1 Don't know 6
Q13 Do you think the present Labour Government is upholding higher standards in public life than the previous Conservative Government, do you think it is upholding lower standards in public life, or have things remained about the same? - Base: 939
% Higher standards 30 Lower standards 9 About the same 54 Don't know 7
Q14 Which party did you vote for at the General Election in May 1997? If you are not sure, or did not vote, please say so. - Base: 939
% Conservative 23 Labour 43 Lib Dem 12 Scot / Welsh Nationalist 2 Green Party 1 Referendum Party * Other * Did not vote 15 Too young 1 Can't remember 1 Refused 2
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,796 adults aged 18+ at 151 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 17-21 July 1998. Base: All respondents, unless stated. The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (9%), are undecided (6%) or refuse to name a party (1%). All figures are in percentages. Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, the exclusion of don't knows or computer rounding. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.
