Jeremy Hunt whose Autumn Statement included £24 billion of tax rises
(Picture: PA Wire)Jeremy Hunt went into the Autumn Statement as the first Tory to be behind his Labour counterpart as “most capable Chancellor” for nine years, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos survey for The Standard found 29 per cent of adults rated him as such, compared to 35 per cent for shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The last time Labour was ahead was in June 2013 when Ed Balls was vying with George Osborne at the despatch box.
However, Mr Hunt’s ratings are far ahead of those of his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng whose disastrous mini-budget sparked economic turmoil.
Twenty-nine per cent are satisfied with Mr Hunt and 40 per cent disastisfied, compared to 12 per cent and 65 per cently respectively for Mr Kwarteng.
But otherwise the current Chancellor’s ratings are the lowest since Philip Hammond in November 2018.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos UK, said: “Jeremy Hunt will be hoping his Autumn Statement can turn around public confidence in the economy and in the Conservatives’ stewardship of it, because both are starting in a pretty precarious position.
“He will also need to overcome the legacy that has left his party behind Labour on having the most capable Chancellor for the first time since 2013.”
Ipsos did not have time to ask the comparison question between Mr Kwarteng and Ms Reeves as he was Chancellor for such a short period of time.
Economic optimism remains low, with 72 per cent expecting the economy to get worse over the next year, 16 per cent saying it will improve, giving an Ipsos Economic Optimism score of -56.
Amid the gloom, Labour’s lead is at 21 points, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 50 per cent (up three points on last month), the Conservatives on 29 per cent (up three points), the Liberal Democrats seven per cent (down three points) and Greens three per cent (down five points).
