Political Attitudes in Great Britain for September 1997

Research study conducted for The Times 26-29 September 1997

 

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,916 adults aged 18+ at 168 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 26-29 September 1997. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%. Base: All respondents, unless stated.

 

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?

 

	%
Conservative	25
Labour	59
Lib Dem	13
Scot / Welsh Nationalist	2
Green Party	*
Referendum Party	*
Other	1
Would not vote	9
Undecided	4
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	57	20	22
Blair	75	13	12
Hague	18	46	36
Ashdown	60	15	27

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	45
Education/schools	45
Unemployment/factory closure/lack of industry	35
Crime/law & order/violence/vandalism	28
Common Market/EU/Europe/Single European Currency	21
Economy/economic situation	17
Pensions/welfare security	12
Drug abuse	7
Pollution/environment	7
Housing	7
Morality/individual behaviour	6
Race relations/immigration/immigrants	4
Transport/public transport	4
Inflation/prices	4
Northern Ireland	2
Scottish/Welsh Assembly	2
Taxation	2
Defence/foreign affairs	2
Countryside/rural life	1
Local government/council tax	1
Nuclear weapons/nuclear war/disarmament	1
AIDS	1
Animal welfare	*
Beef/BSE/Mad Cow Disease	*
Pound/exchange rate/value of pound	*
Privatisation	*
Trade unions/strikes	*
Other	11
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?

 

	%
Improve	36
Stay the same	37
Get worse	19
Don't know	7

Q10-12 Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties. Read through the list slowly keeping the ... party in mind. Every time you come to a statement that fits your ideas or impressions of the party just tell me the letter next to it.

 

	Con Q10	Lab Q11	Lib Dem Q12
	%	%	%
Keeps it promises	4	16	8
Understands the problems facing Britain	14	48	30
Represents all classes	6	36	32
Looks after the interests of people like us	8	28	14
Moderate	11	21	30
Extreme	11	3	2
Concerned about the people in real need in Britain	7	40	31
Has a good team of leaders	6	36	18
Will promise anything to win votes	38	25	15
Out of touch with ordinary people	59	7	8
Has sensible policies	12	37	32
Too dominated by its leader	10	15	13
Professional in its approach	11	33	18
Divided	50	8	7
No opinion	9	7	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	23
Labour	45
Lib Dem	10
Scot / Welsh Nationalist	1
Referendum Party	1
Green Party	*
Other	*
Did not vote	16
Too young	1
Can't remember	*
Refused	2

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,916 adults aged 18+ at 168 sampling points across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted face-to-face on 26-29 September 1997. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population.

The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (7%), are undecided (4%) 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. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.