A growing number of voters are turning to Labour as the best party to deal with Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, a new poll revealed on Thursday.
The Ipsos survey for The Standard showed support for Labour as the most trusted party to “reduce you and your family’s cost of living” hitting 40 per cent for the first time.
The Conservatives were on 25 per cent, putting them 15 points behind Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Under new Prime Minister Liz Truss, the Tories have jumped ahead on growing the economy, with their lead up from six points in June to 15, and are also ahead on managing inflation.
But Labour is favoured on setting the right level of taxation, levelling up, improving the NHS, reducing crime and protecting the environment.
The findings come just days before Labour’s annual rally in Liverpool where shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson will unveil plans for landmark reforms to childcare.
In an interview with The Standard, she said: “We need a complete transformation in how we deliver childcare right across our country.”
She also stressed Labour would introduce a “fairer taxation system”, signalling the wealthy would pay more as it would ensure “those with the broader shoulders are making a contribution towards our country’s success”.
As millions of families face a growing financial squeeze this winter, the poll showed:
* Labour’s lead has slipped from 14 points in July to ten, with the party down four points to 40 per cent, the Conservatives are unchanged on 30 per cent, the Liberal Democrats up three points to 13 per cent and the Greens unchanged on eight per cent.
* The figures showed no sign of a honeymoon bounce for the new Prime Minister, though, this may be down to usual politics being suspended after the death of the Queen.
* Sir Keir leads Ms Truss on “who would make the most capable PM” by 40 per cent to 36 per cent, little change from July when she was Foreign Secretary but a smaller gap than when the Labour leader was ahead of Boris Johnson by 51 per cent to 31 per cent.
* The proportion of adults backing Labour as the most trusted party on cost-of-living rose from 33 per cent in June to 40 per cent, with support for the Tories on this question increasing by a smaller four percentage points to 25 per cent, with fewer people seeing the Lib-Dems or “another party” as offering the best solutions.
* Forty-two per cent opt for the Tories as the best party to grow the economy, up from 32 per cent in June, with Labour almost unchanged on 27 per cent.
* Just over a third favour the Conservatives to manage inflation, compared to 28 per cent for Labour.
* On levelling-up, Labour is ahead of the Tories by 42 per cent to 19 per cent, on setting the right level of taxation by 34 per cent to 28 per cent, improving the NHS by 42 per cent to 20 per cent, reducing crime by 30 per cent to 25 per cent, and protecting the environment 18 per cent to 13 per cent.
* It is narrowly ahead or almost level-pegging on managing immigration, on 27 per cent compared to 25 per cent, and on managing Britain’s relationship with the EU on 32 per cent compared to 30 per cent.
Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said: “With the Conservatives ahead on growing the economy and managing inflation and Labour ahead on the cost of living, NHS and levelling-up, we can see the contours of a potential future general election campaign in these numbers.
“Meanwhile, whilst there is no obvious sign of a significant polling bounce for Liz Truss here, the new Prime Minister will hope that recent events mean that her political honeymoon is delayed rather than denied, as we head into what is likely to be a challenging winter.”
The survey suggested the jury is out on whether Ms Truss will be a good PM, with 27 per cent satisfied with how she has done the job so far, 29 per cent dissatisfied, and 44 per cent “don’t know”.
Her net satisfaction rating of minus two is ahead of Sir Keir on -14 and Mr Johnson’s score of -45 in July, and among Tory supporters she is on +48 compared to +19 for her predecessor in the summer. In each case this is due to her having lower dissatisfaction and higher “don’t knows”.
On whether they “have what it takes to be a good PM,” Sir Keir is ahead of Ms Truss by 34 per cent to 27 per cent.
The Labour leader is ahead on understanding problems facing Britain, by 51 per cent to 42 per cent, with Mr Johnson having been on 29 per cent in May.
Sir Keir is on 40 per cent for sound judgement, compared to Ms Truss’ 28 per cent, and Mr Johnson’s 17 per cent in May.
He gets 36 per cent support for being more honest than most politicians, with Ms Truss on 21 per cent, while Mr Johnson was on nine per cent.
For being good in a crisis, Sir Keir is on 28 per cent, the PM 23 per cent, and her predecessor was on 31 per cent.
As for having a lot of personality, the Labour leader scores 23 per cent, Ms Truss 18 per cent, and Mr Johnson 48 per cent.
The Labour leader has also seen his ratings jump significantly since May on being patriotic, now on 48 per cent, up nine points and his highest score but just behind Ms Truss on 50 per cent, on understanding problems facing Britain, up ten points to 51 per cent, sound judgement up nine points to 40 per cent, good in a crisis up nine points to 28 per cent, and personality up eight points to 23 per cent.
His improved scores may be partly down to the turmoil in the Conservative party and the toppling of Mr Johnson.
* Ipsos interviewed 1,000 adults by phone across Britain between September 7 and 15. Data are weighted.
