Two thirds of Britons lack confidence that Conservatives have good long term economic plan for Britain

• Just 1 in 10 feel reassured about various aspects of the economy post budget
• But majority lack confidence Labour has a good long term economic plan too

New polling from Ipsos, taken 6th to 11th March, 2024 explores public attitudes to the economy and the future in the aftermath of the recent budget. Based on what they had heard or seen about the budget: 

• 10% said it made them feel more reassured about their own financial circumstances, 36% more concerned (34% neither). In November 2023, after the Autumn Statement, 19% felt more reassured, 40% more concerned, and 30% neither. 
• 12% felt more reassured about Britain’s economy (down 6ppts compared to Nov 2023), 42% more concerned (N/C to Nov 2023) and 24% neither (down 3ppts from Nov 2023). 
• 11% felt more reassured about Britain’s public services (down 2ppts from Nov 2023), 44% more concerned (down 2 ppts from Nov 2023), and 23% neither (down 4ppts from Nov 2023).

77% said they would describe the British economy as being in a poor state (-1 from Feb 2024), whilst 20% said it was in a good state (N/C from Feb 2024), which is consistent with recent perceptions on the state of the British economy. 

However compared to the Autumn Statement, the public are more likely to say that Jeremy Hunt has been doing a bad job as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 44% said he is doing a bad job in his role as Chancellor, up 9ppts from November 2023 after the Autumn Statement. This is the highest percentage saying he has done a bad job as Chancellor since he took up the role. Likewise 15% said he is doing a good job, down from 23% in November 2023. 27% said he is doing neither a good nor bad job, whilst 14% don’t know. 

The public continue to lack confidence in both the Conservatives and Labour in terms of having a good long-term economic plan for Britain. 21% said they were confident that the Conservatives had a good long-term economic plan (-5ppts from Jan 2024), whilst 68% said they were not confident (-1ppt from Jan 2024). Whilst Labour perform slightly better than the Conservatives, over half (56%) are not confident that they have a good long-term economic plan for Britain (+2ppts from Jan 2024). 31% said they are confident that Labour have a good long-term economic plan, down from 36% in January 2024. 

Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said of the findings:

The fact two-thirds of the public lack confidence in the Conservatives having a good long term economic plan for Britain is not ideal for a governing party seeking re-election this year. However, a majority also lack confidence in Labour, suggesting that public confidence in Britain’s political leaders is currently in short supply as a General Election approaches. 

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,041 adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus 6th – 11th March 2024. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.