Political Attitudes in Great Britain for September 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 24 September 1998 MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,789 adults aged 18+ at 150 sampling points across Great Britain between 18-21 September 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: 1,789
| Conservative |  24% |
| Labour |  56% |
| Liberal Democrats |  15% |
| Scottish/Welsh Nationalist |  3% |
| Green Party |  1% |
| Referendum Party |  *% |
| Other |  *% |
| Would not vote | 9% |
| Undecided | 7% |
| Refused | 2% |
| Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know | Index | |
| % | % | % | 177 | |
| Government | 45 | 41 | 14 | -4 |
| Blair | 61 | 30 | 9 | +31 |
| Hague | 20 | 51 | 29 | -31 |
| Ashdown | 52 | 18 | 30 | +34 |
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: 846
| Q7 | Q7/Q8 | |
| % | % | |
| Unemployment/factory closure/lack of industry | 23 | 44 |
| National Health Service/Hospitals | 15 | 40 |
| Education/schools | 7 | 31 |
| Economy/economic situation | 14 | 27 |
| Common Market/EU/Europe/Single European Currency | 12 | 20 |
| Crime/law & order/violence/vandalism | 4 | 17 |
| Housing | 2 | 9 |
| Pensions/welfare security | 2 | 9 |
| Poverty/inequality | 1 | 7 |
| Race relations/immigration/immigrants | 2 | 6 |
| Inflation/prices | 1 | 6 |
| Drug abuse | 2 | 5 |
| Transport/public transport | 2 | 4 |
| Morality/individual behaviour | 1 | 4 |
| Pollution/environment | 1 | 4 |
| Defence/foreign affairs | 1 | 3 |
| Pound/exchange rate/value of pound | 1 | 3 |
| Taxation | * | 2 |
| Animal welfare | * | 1 |
| Beef/BSE/Mad Cow Disease | * | 1 |
| Countryside/rural life | * | 1 |
| Local government/council tax | * | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | * | 1 |
| Nuclear weapons/nuclear war/disarmament | * | 1 |
| Trade unions/strikes | 0 | 1 |
| AIDS | * | * |
| Privatisation | * | * |
| Scottish/Welsh Assembly/Devolution | * | * |
| Other | 3 | 12 |
| Don't know | 8 | 6 |
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: 846
| Improve | 13% |
| Stay the same | 30% |
| Get worse | 50% |
| Don't know | 7% |
| MORI Economic Optimism Index (EOI) | -37% |
Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various political parties.
Q10-12 Read through the list slowly keeping the Conservative / Labour / Liberal Democrat party in mind. Every time you come to a statement that fits your ideas or impressions of the party just tell me. You may pick as many or as few as you like. You don't have to be certain, just pick the letters next to the statements you feel fit the Conservative / Labour / Liberal Democrat party.
| Con | Lab | Lib Dem | |
| Q10 | Q11 | Q12 | |
| Keeps it promises | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| Understands the problems facing Britain | 15 | 39 | 26 |
| Represents all classes | 5 | 32 | 28 |
| Looks after the interests of people like us | 7 | 17 | 12 |
| Moderate | 14 | 23 | 27 |
| Extreme | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| Concerned about the people in real need in Britain | 7 | 31 | 25 |
| Has a good team of leaders | 7 | 29 | 13 |
| Will promise anything to win votes | 37 | 36 | 14 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people | 52 | 18 | 8 |
| Has sensible policies | 11 | 25 | 28 |
| Too dominated by its leader | 11 | 22 | 12 |
| Professional in its approach | 11 | 22 | 15 |
| Divided | 44 | 14 | 7 |
| No opinion | 11 | 7 | 29 |
Q13 The Conservative Party have announced that they are going to hold a ballot of their members on whether the Party should or should not postpone making any decision to join the single European currency until at least the general election after next, which could be up to nine years from now. If you were to vote, would you vote yes - to postpone the decision until at least the general election after next, or would you vote no? Base: 846
| Yes | 41% |
| No | 42% |
| Don't know | 17% |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,789 adults aged 18+ at 150 sampling points across Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 18-21 September 1998. Base: All respondents, unless stated. The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (9%), are undecided (7%) 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%.
