The latest Ipsos Political Pulse, conducted between 8-12 May 2026 among 2,191 British adults in conjunction with ITV/Peston, reveals a challenging landscape for the current government, with low favourability for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and a significant shift in public expectations regarding Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Tony Blair's stand against proposed manufacturing job losses is likely to find strong support among Government MPs, according to MORI's regular survey of Members of Parliament.
Sir Robert Worcester wrote this article for the April issue of Parliamentary Monitor before the postponement of the election from the expected May 3 was announced. Now we know that the Reuters 'Experts' were wrong even on the prediction of the election date, where he agreed with them, his remarks on the reliability of the pundits seem more relevant still.
More people wanted to come out of Europe than to stay in, according to a MORI poll for the British Democracy Campaign. Of those who expressed an opinion, 52% were in favour of leaving the EU right now.
MORI poll for the Economist, including measurements of Best Party on Key issues and Most Capable Prime Minister, conducted during what was then expected to be the last week before the election was called
MORI's political polls frequently include a question asking respondents how they voted at the last general. However, although the responses are useful to us in a number of ways, we do not expect them to be an entirely accurate reflection of how the respondents did, in fact, vote. Consequently the responses of a representative sample will NOT normally match the actual result of the last election, and the fact that a sample's recalled vote differs from the election result is not evidence that the sample is unrepresentative.
There is little in this week's MORI poll for The Times [Political Attitudes in Great Britain for March 2001] which should discourage Tony Blair from calling the general election next week, should he wish to do so, for fear of the political effects. It is true that the public seems profoundly unimpressed with the government's handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis, and that opinion on this issue has deteriorated over the last week (69% were dissatisfied with the way the Government is handling the Foot and Mouth outbreak in the Times poll, conducted on 22-27 March, compared with 52% dissatisfied on 15-17 March when we polled for the Mail on Sunday [FOOT AND MOUTH POLL]). But this dissatisfaction has not fed through into any adverse change in voting intentions: Labour's share is 50%, as it was in January and February.
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: 1,945
Should he or shouldn't he? Tony Blair still seems determined to call the election for 3 May, though he has yet to make any announcement; the public seem decidedly less enthusiastic. Nevertheless, MORI's poll for the Mail on Sunday [FOOT AND MOUTH POLL] suggested that few of those opposed to holding the election on 3 May feel that if the government were to do so it would make them less likely to vote Labour.
