The British public has “lost confidence” in the Conservatives’ ability to handle the economy – but half of it has little faith a Labour government would do better, a new poll has found.
At least half the public has little or no trust in either party’s ability to manage the country’s taxes and spending or reduce the cost of living, pollster Ipsos found.
The Conservatives fare worst, with 27 per cent of people saying they trust the Tories to manage taxes and spending, down from 37 per cent in August, while just 17 per cent back the government to reduce the cost of living.
Underlining the challenge for Jeremy Hunt as he prepares for Thursday’s autumn statement, 65 per cent of people say they do not trust the Conservatives on taxation and spending, while three-quarters say they do not trust them on the cost of living.
Labour’s numbers are better, with 38 per cent saying they trust the opposition to manage taxation and spending and 37 per cent saying they believe the party would reduce the cost of living.
But despite leading the Conservatives, Labour is yet to receive a ringing endorsement from the public, with 50 per cent saying they have little or no trust in the party’s ability to manage the budget and 52 per cent saying the same about its chances of reducing the cost of living.
The findings, from a poll of 1,000 British adults carried out between Nov. 4 and 8, are accompanied by widespread pessimism about the state of the British economy.
Just 7 per cent think the economy is in a good state, down from 37 per cent a year ago, while almost one in every nine people think the economy is doing badly – up from 59 per cent in November 2021.
