Public unclear of parties’ general election pledges according to new poll

29 April 2015. Britons remain unsure about party manifesto pledges with only a week to go until the General Election, believing Conservative policies belong to Labour and vice versa, according to a new ComRes poll commissioned by political communications specialists the Whitehouse Consultancy.

More people (39%) believed the commitment to £8bn in new NHS funding belonged to Labour rather than appearing in the Conservative manifesto (35%), despite Ed Miliband and the shadow cabinet continually refusing to meet this funding commitment.

Only one in four (25%) recognised the pledge to cut the budget deficit every year of the next Parliament as being from Labour, despite Ed Miliband’s promise to put the commitment at the centre of his first budget. Nearly half of respondents (49%) thought the commitment had been made by the Conservatives.

Only 24% recognised the Labour Party’s plans to restrict migrants’ access to benefits to those that have lived in the UK for two years. More than half (53%) believed this was a Conservative policy.

Helen Munro, Managing Director of the Whitehouse Consultancy, said:

“Both the Conservatives and Labour need to do more over the next week to communicate their vision for the future of the UK following the General Election. It is evident the public is uncertain as to what each party’s platform really is.

“With much of the election campaign being spent by both sides countering potential coalition scenarios or personal attacks, our poll highlights the need for both the potential future governing parties to get back onto the issues that matter to voters. However, the public also needs to make sure they have the information they need to make an informed decision on 7th May.”

The Whitehouse Consultancy has established www.de-mob.co.uk, one of a number of websites summarising the parties’ manifestos for voters.

 

Poll results

Methodology Note: ComRes interviewed 2,072 British adults online between 24th and 26th April 2015. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Q: Below is a list of policies taken from the manifestos of the Conservative Party and Labour Party. To the best of your knowledge, which party do you think each policy belongs to?

 

Labour Conservative Don’t know
Freeze energy prices until 2017 (Labour pledge) 59% 13% 28%
Take people on the minimum wage out of income tax (Conservative) 41% 34% 25%
Spend at least an additional £8 billion a year by 2020 on the NHS over and above inflation (Conservative) 39% 35% 26%
Build at least 200,000 new homes a year by 2020 (Labour) 39% 32% 29%
Cut the budget deficit in every year of the next Parliament (Labour) 25% 49% 26%
Ensure migrants will not be able to claim benefits until they have lived here for at least two years (Labour) 24% 53% 23%
Increase the Inheritance Tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1 million (Conservative) 17% 56% 27%
Ensure that those aged 18-21 do not have an automatic right to Housing Benefit (Conservative) 11% 54% 35%

 

Base: All GB adults (n=2,072).

About De-mob

De-mob, which stands for democratic mobilisation, is an online tool that aims to encourage young voters to engage with the issues that affect them ahead of the May 2015 General Election. It includes bite-sized, unbiased information of the seven main parties’ positions on policies that affect voters in the UK and provides them with accessible information to help them make an informed decision on May 7th. The online tool, which was first launched ahead of the 2010 General Election, is also supplemented by a Facebook and Twitter account to encourage all voters to share and discuss their views.

For further information or comment from Helen Munro, please contact Chris Rogers (020 7793 2536 / 07720 054189 / Chris.Rogers@whitehousecomms.com) or Peter Shand (020 7061 6355 / Peter.Shand@whitehousecomms.com).