Political Attitudes in Great Britain for March 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 27 March 1998 MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,879 adults aged 18+ at 165 sampling points across Great Britain between 20-23 March 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: 1,879
| % | |
| Conservative | 28 |
| Labour | 53 |
| Lib Dem | 14 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 3 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | 1 |
| Would not vote | 11 |
| Undecided | 6 |
| Refused | 2 |
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: 974
| Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know | |
| % | % | % | |
| Government | 46 | 38 | 16 |
| Blair | 62 | 28 | 10 |
| Hague | 27 | 43 | 30 |
| Ashdown | 54 | 16 | 30 |
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: 974
| Q7 / 8 | |
| % | |
| National Health Service / Hospitals | 47 |
| Education / schools | 42 |
| Unemployment / factory closure / lack of industry | 34 |
| Common Market / EU / Europe / Single European Currency | 22 |
| Economy / economic situation | 19 |
| Pensions / social security | 17 |
| Crime / law & order / violence / vandalism | 13 |
| Poverty / inequality | 7 |
| Pollution / environment | 7 |
| Housing | 6 |
| Drug abuse | 5 |
| Morality / individual behaviour | 4 |
| Defence / foreign affairs | 4 |
| Transport / public transport | 4 |
| Taxation | 4 |
| Northern Ireland | 3 |
| Race relations / immigration / immigrants | 3 |
| Inflation / prices | 3 |
| Beef / BSE / Mad Cow Disease | 2 |
| Local government / council tax | 2 |
| Pound / exchange rate / value of pound | 2 |
| Nuclear weapons / nuclear war / disarmament | 1 |
| Countryside / rural life | 1 |
| Scottish / Welsh Assembly / Devolution | 1 |
| Privatisation | * |
| AIDS | * |
| Animal welfare | * |
| Trade unions / strikes | * |
| Other | 10 |
| Don't know | 4 |
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: 974
| % | |
| Improve | 30 |
| Stay the same | 36 |
| Get worse | 26 |
| Don't know | 8 |
Q10 Are satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Gordon Brown is doing his job as Chancellor of the Exchequer? - Base: 974
| % | |
| Satisfied | 56 |
| Dissatisfied | 24 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 20 |
Q11 On balance, do you agree or disagree with the statement that in the long term, this government's policies will improve the state of Britain's economy? - Base: 974
| % | |
| Agree | 54 |
| Disagree | 29 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 17 |
Q12 Do you think the Budget proposals are a good thing ... Base: 974
a) for you personally? b) for the country as a whole?
| a) for you personally? | b) for the country as a whole? | |
| % | % | |
| Good thing | 33 | 57 |
| Bad thing | 39 | 22 |
| Don't know | 28 | 21 |
Q13 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.
| % | |
| Conservative | 22 |
| Labour | 46 |
| Lib Dem | 10 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 2 |
| Green Party | * |
| Referendum Party | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| Did not vote | 14 |
| Too young | 1 |
| Can't remember | 1 |
| Refused | 2 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,879 adults aged 18+ at 165 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 20-23 March 1998. Base: All respondents, unless stated. The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (11%), are undecided (6%) or refuse to name a party (2%). 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%.
