|
9/10 Tory policies beat Labour |
VOTERS have given their backing to David Cameron’s plans to change Britain, an exclusive News of the World poll reveals.
On nine out of ten issues, from law and order and schools to Afghanistan and tax, voters say the Tories have the best policies.
And they have given an overwhelming thumbs up to George Osborne’s controversial blueprint to get the country’s economy back on track.
In a massive boost for Mr Cameron the Tories are now 19 per cent ahead of Labour, with 45 per cent support compared to 26 per cent.
That is three per cent more than the Labour lead seven months before they romped to a landslide victory in 1997.
Labour and the Tories told the country their plans for Britain at their party conferences over the last two weeks.
The Tories finally set out their stall after years of criticism that they did not have detailed policies.
And our poll by ICM reveals voters liked what they heard from Mr Cameron’s team.
We asked who had the best policies across the board. And the Tories came out on top in every area, except health where Labour narrowly beat them by just one per cent.
That is a real vote of confidence in Mr Cameron, pictured below, who has faced repeated accusations that he lacks substance.
The results also show that Shadow Chancellor Mr Osborne’s big conference gamble has paid off.
In a high-risk strategy he used his conference speech to warn Brits to brace themselves for massive spending cuts.
He told voters “we are all in this together” as he warned that almost everyone would be hit in the wallet to pay for Labour’s irresponsible spending binge.
The poll shows voters backed his plans to freeze public sector pay, cap civil servants’ pensions, scrap child trust funds and cut Whitehall budgets. Even people who plan to vote Labour support most of Osborne’s plans.
But voters overall narrowly opposed his promise to increase the pension age and make people work longer.
On the crucial question of who they trust to cut debt, almost twice as many people backed the Tories over Labour, with 42 per cent for the Blues against 24 per cent for the Reds.
There is a crumb of comfort for Labour, who know that the economy will decide the outcome of the next election.
Some 41 per cent think their plans to cut the current yearly budget deficit in half within four years are “about right” — although 29 per cent say they do not go far enough.
On the issue of law and order, 41 per cent back the Tories and just 20 per cent Labour. And 34 per cent back Mr Cameron on Afghanistan against 18 per cent for Mr Brown.
On asylum and immigration, 32 per cent trust the Tories but just 18 per cent Labour.
The Tories get 35 per cent support on education compared to 26 per cent for Labour.
In a personal boost for Mr Cameron, 46 per cent said he performed better than Gordon Brown at the party conferences — the last before the next General Election.
ICM Pollster Martin Boon said: “The Conservatives have a 19 point lead, which history says is unassailable.
“Not only are voters backing the Conservatives but they also seem to be backing the policies that came out of their conference.
“There is still some time to go before the election and anything can happen. But David Cameron could not ask to be in a better position.”
ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,008 adults aged 18+ by telephone on October 7 and 8, 2009. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.