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Brexit has been seen as the single biggest issue facing the country for some time now, but that doesn’t mean that it is the only thing that Britons care about
When shown a list of issues which might be important to them in deciding how to vote, the top two issues for British adults were the NHS (60 percent) closely followed by Brexit (56 percent), according to latest polling by Ipsos MORI. The proportion of British adults choosing the NHS has increased six points since last week, meaning it has leapfrogged Brexit as the top concern of voters. Gideon Skinner, Head of Politics Ipsos MORI, said: “Brexit has been seen as the single biggest issue facing the country for some time now, but that doesn’t mean that it is the only thing that Britons care about.
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“The NHS is a consistent source of concern for the public, and we have also seen long-term rises in the importance of other issues too, such as crime, the environment, and poverty and inequality.
“What’s also important is that while Brexit and the NHS share the top two slots for most groups, there are differences in emphasis. For Conservatives, Brexit is most important, and they are also more likely to prioritise issues such as immigration, the economy and crime.
“Labour voters put the NHS top, and are also worried about housing, poverty/inequality and education. So while Brexit is sure to play a role, it’s unlikely to be the only issue voters care about.”
Aside from the top two issues - the NHS and Brexit - crime (32 percent) and caring for older and disabled people (also 32 percent) are tied in third place.
Several other issues have grown in importance by a couple of percentage points since last week, notably managing the economy and immigration (both up four points) and public services generally (up five points).
Favourability towards the Labour Party has improved slightly since last week, with 29 percent of GB adults now saying they have a favourable opinion (compared to 26 last week). The Conservatives are still seen as the most favourable party (35 percent), while around one in four say they have a favourable opinion of the Liberal Democrats (25 percent) and Brexit Party (23 percent).
In contrast, 43 percent have an unfavourable opinion of the Conservative Party compared with 52 percent that have an unfavourable opinion of Labour (although this has improved from 55 percent last week). Meanwhile 50 percent are unfavourable towards the Brexit Party and 42 percent the Lib Dems.
In terms of ‘net favourability’ the Conservative still lead on -8 - but this has dropped five points compared with last week, while Labour are now on -23 (up six points).
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The Liberal Democrats (-17) and Brexit Party (-27) have not seen notable shifts.
In terms of party leaders, voters are still most favourably inclined towards Boris Johnson of the four party leaders included in the survey, with the Prime Minister viewed in a positive light by 36 percent of those asked - although 45 view him unfavourably, giving him a net favourability score of -9.
However, perhaps importantly, 59 percent of Leave voters are favourable towards Mr Johnson.
In contrast, of the four leaders, British adults are least favourable towards Jeremy Corbyn, who has not seen any improvement in his ratings: 22 percent favourable, 60 percent unfavourable, net -38.
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This compares to scores of 23% favourable and 62% unfavourable last week, giving him a net score of -39).
Almost half of all Remain voters (49 percent) are still unfavourable towards Mr Corbyn.
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson is also struggling with a favourability rating of just 22 percent, with 41 percent regarding her unfavourably, giving her a net score of -19.
Just 26 percent are favourably disposed towards Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, with well over half - 54 percent - unfavourable, putting him “underwater” by 28 percent.
In terms of which parties are having a good campaign, 27 percent say the Tories are performing well, compared with 35 percent who do not, a net score of -8 percent.
Perceptions of the Labour party campaign have improved slightly, with now one in four (25 percent, +up four points on last week) saying they are having a good campaign and 42 percent (down two points) saying the opposite, adding up to a net score of -17. Twenty percent think the Lib Dems are having a good campaign and 33 percent think they are having a bad campaign, a net score of -13, down three points on last week.
The Brexit Party is judged to be having a good campaign by 19 percent of those asked, with 41 disagreeing, a net score of -22.
The Tories are still heavily favoured to be the largest Party in Parliament after the December 12 election, with 57 percent of people thinking this will be the case, down two points on last week.
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Ipsos MORI Research Director Keiran Pedley said: “Our campaign tracker shows that nothing has fundamentally changed in the second week of the campaign in terms of public opinion.
“There are some signs of Labour improving slightly, reflected in voting intention polls too, but they are still a long way off where they need to be to stop the Conservatives returning to office after the election.
“That being said, with three weeks to go, there is still time for Labour to turn things round following the upcoming manifesto launches and series of leaders debates.”
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,140 British adults online between November 15 and 18.