Political Attitudes in Great Britain for January 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 29 January 1998 MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,870 adults aged 18+ at 161 sampling points across Great Britain between 23-26 January 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: 1,870
| % | |
| Conservative | 28 |
| Labour | 54 |
| Lib Dem | 14 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 3 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | * |
| Would not vote | 10 |
| Undecided | 7 |
| 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?
| Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know | |
| % | % | % | |
| Government | 46 | 38 | 15 |
| Blair | 60 | 29 | 11 |
| Hague | 22 | 45 | 33 |
| Ashdown | 56 | 15 | 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?
| Q7 / 8 | |
| % | |
| National Health Service / Hospitals | 42 |
| Education / schools | 37 |
| Unemployment / factory closure / lack of industry | 32 |
| Common Market / EU / Europe / Single European Currency | 23 |
| Pensions / social security | 23 |
| Crime / law & order / violence / vandalism | 19 |
| Economy / economic situation | 14 |
| Housing | 10 |
| Poverty / inequality | 9 |
| Northern Ireland | 8 |
| Pollution / environment | 7 |
| Drug abuse | 5 |
| Morality / individual behaviour | 5 |
| Race relations / immigration / immigrants | 4 |
| Defence / foreign affairs | 4 |
| Beef / BSE / Mad Cow Disease | 3 |
| Inflation / prices | 3 |
| Transport / public transport | 3 |
| Taxation | 3 |
| Local government / council tax | 2 |
| Nuclear weapons / nuclear war / disarmament | 1 |
| Countryside / rural life | 1 |
| Scottish / Welsh Assembly / Devolution | 1 |
| Privatisation | 1 |
| Pound / exchange rate / value of pound | 1 |
| AIDS | 1 |
| Animal welfare | * |
| Trade unions / strikes | * |
| Other | 10 |
| Don't know | 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?
| % | |
| Improve | 27 |
| Stay the same | 38 |
| Get worse | 28 |
| Don't know | 7 |
I am now going to read out a series of statements. For each one, I would like you to tell me, using this card, the extent to which you agree or disagree with it.
Q10 The state pension should be limited to those without an adequate private pension. Q11 There should be tax concessions for women with young children who stay at home to look after them. Q12 People in paid employment should be required, by law, to take out insurance to provide for their accommodation needs in old age. Base: 904
| Q.10 | Q.11 | Q.12 | |
| % | % | % | |
| Strongly agree | 8 | 32 | 9 |
| Tend to agree | 20 | 38 | 33 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Tend to disagree | 31 | 12 | 22 |
| Strongly disagree | 32 | 7 | 24 |
| Don't know | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Q13 Benefits, such as Child Benefit should be available to all, at the same rate, regardless of income. Q14 Benefits, such as Maternity Benefit should be available to all, at the same rate, regardless of income. Base: 904
| Q13 | Q14 | |
| % | % | |
| Strongly agree | 27 | 30 |
| Tend to agree | 22 | 27 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 4 | 6 |
| Tend to disagree | 25 | 23 |
| Strongly disagree | 21 | 12 |
| Don't know | 1 | 2 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,870 adults aged 18+ at 161 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 23-26 January 1998. Base: All respondents, unless stated. The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (10%), are undecided (7%) 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%.
