Trust In Blair And The BBC
Public approval of Tony Blair's handling of the situation in Iraq has fallen in recent months with net approval ratings of -23%. Blair's Baghdad bounce was short-lived and his approval ratings are similar to those recorded by MORI just before the conflict started (-24% in 14-16 March 2003). Trust in the Prime Minister has also fallen, and he is regarded as less trustworthy than the BBC.
However, by a margin of nearly two to one, the public say they supported British participation in the American-led military action at the time (60% support vs. 34% oppose). Half the public (50%) believe it was right for British troops to invade Iraq and take part in deposing the Saddam Hussein Government -- with two in five (41%) believing it was wrong.
Technical details
- MORI interviewed a representative sample of 982 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain.
- Fieldwork was conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dial methodology on 25-27 July 2003.
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
- Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated
- An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of the way the President of America, George W. Bush, is handling the current situation with Iraq?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Approve | 26 |
| Disapprove | 60 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 14 |
| Net approve (+ / -- ) | -34 |
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is handling the current situation in Iraq?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Approve | 32 |
| Disapprove | 55 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 13 |
| Net approve (+ / -- ) | -23 |
Q3 Did you support or oppose Britain joining the American-led military action against Iraq once British troops were there?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Support | 60 |
| Oppose | 34 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 6 |
| Net support(+ / -- ) | +26 |
Q4 Do you believe now it was right or wrong for British troops to invade Iraq and take part in deposing the Saddam Hussein Government?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Believe it was right | 50 |
| Believe it was wrong | 41 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 9 |
| Net right(+ / -- ) | +9 |
Q5 Do you agree or disagree that British troops should remain in Iraq until a stable democratic Iraqi Government is ready to take over control of the country?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly agree | 36 |
| Tend to agree | 33 |
| Neither agree or disagree | 4 |
| Tend to disagree | 8 |
| Strongly disagree | 15 |
| Don't know | 4 |
| Agree | 69 |
| Disagree | 23 |
| Net agree (+ / -) | +46 |
Q6 To what extent are you personally interested or not in news coverage of the situation in Iraq?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Very interested | 31 |
| Fairly interested | 50 |
| Not very interested | 13 |
| Not at all interested | 5 |
| Don't know | 1 |
| Interested | 81 |
| Not interested | 18 |
| Net interested(+ / -) | +63 |
Q7-11 In general would you describe each of the following as trustworthy or not?
Base: All British adults 18+ (982)
| Trustworthy | Not trustworthy | Don't know | Net trustworthy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % 177 | |
| Tony Blair | 41 | 49 | 10 | -8 |
| Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's Director of Communications | 14 | 60 | -26 | -46 |
| Andrew Gilligan, the BBC journalist | 32 | 30 | 38 | +2 |
| Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary | 24 | 45 | 30 | -21 |
| The BBC | 59 | 26 | 15 | +33 |
