Support for strikes softens, but public still most likely to back nurses, ambulance workers and junior doctors

• Support for potential strikes from nurses, ambulance workers, and junior doctors has fallen by 5ppts compared to August – though support still outweighs opposition
• Half (50%) expect strikes in 2024 to be more disruptive for the country as a whole, but half (54%) think there will be little change in the disruption they face  personally
• Half (54%) think the UK Government led by Rishi Sunak has done a bad job negotiating with trade unions, though only 1 in 3 (33%) think a hypothetical Labour government led by Keir Starmer would do a better job

A study of 2,000 members of the British public has found support for potential strikes from nurses, ambulance workers, and junior doctors has fallen by 5ppts compared to August. These sectors do though continue to be among those most widely supported by the public, with more than half continuing to support potential strike action by nurses (58%) and ambulance workers (55%). Just under half support potential strike action by junior doctors (48%) and teachers (44%). The public are more likely to oppose than support potential strike action by railway workers, civil servants, university staff, and driving examiners.

Looking ahead to fresh strikes by railway workers, nurses, and junior doctors, half of Britons said they expect strikes in 2024 to be more disruptive than 2023 for the country as a whole, with 31% saying they expect it to be about the same. When asked about how they expect strikes to impact them personally, 54% said they don’t anticipate any change, with 3 in 10 (29%) saying they expect this year to be more disruptive. 

Consistent with previous polling, more than half of Britons (54%) continue to think the current UK government led by Rishi Sunak is doing a bad job negotiating with trade unions to prevent strikes, with only 17% saying they’re doing a good job. By contrast, a third (33%) think a hypothetical Labour government led by Keir Starmer would do a better job, with 23% thinking they would do a worse job. A third (34%) think there would be no difference.

Gideon Skinner, Research Director at Ipsos said of the findings:

While some sectors have seen a softening in support for strikes at the start of this year, the overall pattern remains similar to much of last year, with the public tending to back nurses, ambulance workers and junior doctors, but less in favour of strikes on the railways. Confidence in the UK government’s ability to successfully negotiate remains low – perhaps contributing to the 50% of the public who expect that strike action in 2024 may be even more disruptive than in 2023.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,079 adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus 9th-11th January 2024. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.