Ten Years Of Labour
Ipsos's latest survey, conducted immediately after Tony Blair's announcement of his intention to resign as Leader of the Labour Party, assesses the public's attitudes towards ten years of government by the Labour Party.
It shows that public optimism about Britain as a place to live has dropped from 1998 to now, and that people are nearly equally divided on whether ten years of Labour's government has been good or bad for the country. Blair's government is seen as having done a good job on managing the economy (60% think it has done a good job) but a poor job on defence/foreign affairs and the NHS (67% and 64% think it's done a bad job respectively in these areas).
Support for the war in Iraq has decreased rapidly over the last two years, from 32% in April 2005 to 14% now. Approval for Blair's handling of the situation in Iraq has also declined, from 26% approving (and 62% disapproving) in January 2003, compared to just 17% approving (and 77% disapproving) now.
The survey also asks about the future, and reveals that the public feel that Gordon Brown would be better than David Cameron at both running public services and managing the economy.
Further Commentary
Blair vs. Thatcher: Public Perceptions Following Resignation Announcements
Topline Results
- Ipsos interviewed 961 British adults age 18+
- Interviews were carried out by telephone between 11 and 13 May 2007 (for all data labelled 'May 2007')
- Where figures do not sum to 100 per cent, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple codes or the exclusion of "Not stated"
- All answers for May 2007 are based on all respondents (961) unless indicated otherwise
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
- Full data tabulations (weighted and unweighted) are available upon request.
Q1 Generally speaking, do you think that Britain as a place to live is getting better or worse or is it staying the same?
| July 1998 | May 2007 | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Getting better | 24 | 14 |
| Getting worse | 40 | 60 |
| Staying the same | 33 | 25 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 3 | 1 |
| NET BETTER | -16 | -46 |
Q2a On balance, do you think that ten years of Mr Blair's Government have been good or bad for the country? (NOTE: Asked about 'Mrs Thatcher's Government' in 1990)
| Nov 1990 (Thatcher) | May 2007 (Blair) | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Good | 52 | 46 |
| Bad | 40 | 43 |
| No opinion | 8 | 11 |
| NET GOOD | +12 | +3 |
Q2b On balance, do you think that ten years of Mr Blair's Government have been good or bad for you personally? (NOTE: Asked about 'Mrs Thatcher's Government' in 1990)
| Nov 1990 (Thatcher) | May 2007 (Blair) | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Good | 44 | 46 |
| Bad | 46 | 35 |
| No opinion | 10 | 19 |
| NET GOOD | -2 | +11 |
Q3 Since it was elected in May 1997, do you think the government has or has not …?
| April 1998 | May 2007 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Has | Has Not | Don't know | Has | Has Not | Don't know | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Kept its promises | 40 | 46 | 14 | 28 | 64 | 8 |
| Provided a strong voice for Britain in Europe | 59 | 26 | 15 | 52 | 42 | 6 |
| Handled the Northern Ireland issue well | 74 | 13 | 13 | 74 | 15 | 11 |
| Upheld high standards in public life | 48 | 36 | 16 | 35 | 58 | 8 |
Q4 Do you think that the Government has done a good job or a bad job at …?
| April 1998 | May 2007 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Bad | Don't know | Good | Bad | Don't know | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Managing the economy | 60 | 24 | 16 | 59 | 32 | 9 |
| Improving the National Health Service | 31 | 49 | 20 | 28 | 64 | 8 |
| Improving the Education system | 47 | 33 | 20 | 42 | 46 | 12 |
| Handling taxation and public expenditure | 43 | 36 | 21 | 31 | 59 | 9 |
| Keeping unemployment down | 55 | 23 | 22 | 61 | 30 | 9 |
| Protecting the natural environment | 39 | 33 | 28 | 47 | 41 | 12 |
| Handling Scottish and Welsh devolution | 45 | 23 | 32 | 42 | 28 | 31 |
| Managing defence and foreign affairs generally | n/a | n/a | n/a | 26 | 67 | 7 |
| Handling race relations | n/a | n/a | n/a | 41 | 47 | 11 |
| Dealing with crime | n/a | n/a | n/a | 34 | 58 | 8 |
Q5 Which of these statements comes closest to your views of Mr Blair? (NOTE: Asked about Mrs Thatcher in 1990)
| Nov 1990 (Thatcher) | April 2005 (Blair) | May 2007 (Blair) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| I like Mr Blair and I like his policies | 20 | 27 | 27 |
| I like Mr Blair but I dislike his policies | 19 | 17 | 30 |
| I dislike Mr Blair but I like his policies | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| I dislike Mr Blair and I dislike his policies | 52 | 35 | 31 |
| Don't know | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| TOTAL LIKE BLAIR | 39 | 44 | 57 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE BLAIR | 60 | 47 | 37 |
| NET LIKE BLAIR | -21 | -3 | +20 |
| TOTAL LIKE POLICIES | 28 | 39 | 33 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE POLICIES | 71 | 52 | 61 |
| NET LIKE POLICIES | -43 | -13 | -28 |
Q6 Which of these statements come closest to your views of David Cameron and the Conservative Party?
| % | |
|---|---|
| I like David Cameron and I like the Conservative Party | 21 |
| I like David Cameron but I do not like the Conservative Party | 20 |
| I do not like David Cameron but I like the Conservative Party | 11 |
| I do not like David Cameron and I do not like the Conservative Party | 35 |
| Don't know | 13 |
| TOTAL LIKE CAMERON | 41 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE CAMERON | 46 |
| NET LIKE CAMERON | -5 |
| TOTAL LIKE CONSERVATIVE PARTY | 32 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE CONSERVATIVE PARTY | 55 |
| NET LIKE CONSERVATIVE PARTY | -23 |
Q7 Which of these statements come closest to your views of Gordon Brown and the Labour Party?
| % | |
|---|---|
| I like Gordon Brown and I like the Labour Party | 22 |
| I like Gordon Brown but I do not like the Labour Party | 14 |
| I do not like Gordon Brown but I like the Labour Party | 20 |
| I do not like Gordon Brown and I do not like the Labour Party | 35 |
| Don't know | 9 |
| TOTAL LIKE BROWN | 36 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE BROWN | 55 |
| NET LIKE BROWN | -19 |
| TOTAL LIKE LABOUR PARTY | 42 |
| TOTAL DISLIKE LABOUR PARTY | 49 |
| NET LIKE LABOUR PARTY | -7 |
Q8a Do you think that Gordon Brown or David Cameron would be better at running public services? Q8b Do you think that Gordon Brown or David Cameron would be better at managing the economy?
| Q8a | Q8b | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Gordon Brown | 42 | 54 |
| David Cameron | 36 | 27 |
| Don't know | 22 | 18 |
| LABOUR LEAD | +6 | +27 |
Q9 Do you approve or disapprove of the way the President of America, George W. Bush is handling the current situation with Iraq?
| Sept 2002 | Jan 2003 | May 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Approve | 30 | 19 | 9 |
| Disapprove | 59 | 68 | 85 |
| Don't know | 11 | 13 | 6 |
| NET APPROVE | -29 | -49 | -76 |
Q10 Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Prime Minster, Tony Blair, is handling the current situation with Iraq?
| Sept 2002 | Jan 2003 | May 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Approve | 40 | 26 | 17 |
| Disapprove | 49 | 62 | 77 |
| Don't know | 11 | 13 | 6 |
| NET APPROVE | -9 | -36 | -60 |
Q11 Which, if any, of the following statements comes closest to your own view about the war in Iraq? Note: Wording was 'oppose' in 2005 and 'do not support' in 2007
| April 2005 | May 2007 | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| I supported the war and I support it now | 30 | 11 |
| I supported the war but do not support it now | 15 | 22 |
| I did not support the war but I support it now | 2 | 3 |
| I did not support the war and I do not support it now | 46 | 61 |
| Don't know | 7 | 4 |
| TOTAL SUPPORT NOW | 32 | 14 |
| TOTAL DO NOT SUPPORT NOW | 61 | 83 |
Q12 To what extent are you personally interested or not in news coverage of the war in Iraq?
| Jan 2003 | May 2007 | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Very interested | 43 | 23 |
| Fairly interested | 42 | 50 |
| Not very interested | 9 | 17 |
| Not at all interested | 5 | 10 |
| Don't know | 1 | 1 |
| INTERESTED | 85 | 73 |
| NOT INTERESTED | 14 | 27 |
| NET INTERESTED | +71 | +46 |
