Public concern about Coronavirus drops sharply, but it remains the biggest issue facing Britain

 From IpsoMori - interesting to see poverty and inequality moving up in the list of concerns.

The March 2021 Ipsos MORI Issues Index records the first significant drop in concern about Covid-19 since June 2020.The proportion who name the coronavirus as a big issue for the country has fallen from 72 per cent in February to 49 per cent this month. One third see the pandemic as the single biggest issue (34%), a decrease from almost six in ten last month (57%).

 

While economic concern has held steady, there has been a fall in the proportion of the public naming Brexit as an issue. This month 26 per cent cite the UK’s exit from the EU as a worry, the joint-lowest score for this issue since the vote to leave in 2016 (concern was also at this level in April 2020). This month’s score is seven percentage points lower than last month – and half the level of concern recorded in December 2020 (60%).

 

There has been an eight-percentage point increase in mentions of the NHS as a big concern: 24 per cent mention it as an issue. Fieldwork occurred between 5 and 11 March, covering the period when the Government announced a one per cent pay rise for NHS staff.

 

Other issues that have risen significantly from last month include Poverty and inequality (up 6ppt since February), education (up 4 ppt), unemployment and immigration (both up 3ppt),

 

 

 

 

While concern about Coronavirus has fallen across all groups since last month, there is a distinct pattern by age, with older and younger Britons now significantly less concerned than those in the middle age brackets. The proportion mentioning the pandemic as an issue stands at 44% among 18-34s, 59% among 35-54 year olds, and 43% among the over 55s. By contrast, in February these figures were 70%, 76% and 72% respectively.

 

Those aged 65 and over are among the least likely to mention the pandemic as a big issue; 39% do so, meaning it is their joint-top concern alongside the economy (also 39%).

 

 

Greens set to beat Lib Dems in London

• Latest polls put Green Party on 11% in London, 4 points ahead of Liberal Democrats
• Support for Green Party is surging just before election day
• Big swing from Labour and Liberal Democrats over to the Greens

With just four days to go until the general election, polls suggest the Green Party could be about to make history in London by beating the Liberal Democrats into third place.

Polling by IpsosMORI gives the Green Party 11% amongst those certain to vote in the capital with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 7%.

The poll demonstrates a huge rise in support for the Greens in London since 2010 and cements their position as the third biggest party in the capital following their strong performance in the 2012 Mayoral and London Assembly elections.

The surge is being driven by the movement of former Labour and Liberal Democrat voters over to the party. Of those respondents who said they would be voting Green in Thursday’s election, one in six had voted for the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and one in ten had voted for Labour.

Tom Chance, Co-Chair of the London Green Party and candidate for Lewisham West and Penge, said:

Of course this is exactly the news we want to be hearing just before the election but it reflects the feeling we’ve been getting on the ground throughout this campaign when our members have been out and about meeting voters. People are feeling let-down by politics in Britain and they’re hungry for an alternative to the austerity message being served-up on a daily basis by the “established” parties.

What is so exciting is that here in London we already have a great basis from which to deliver that change for voters. We finished third in the last Mayoral election. We have two assembly members, an MEP, and four councillors. This is giving us the base we need to build our influence and our presence.

Voters can go out to the polls on May 7^th knowing that by voting Green, they’re contributing to a rapidly growing movement in London. We really are on the verge of making history.

Support for the Green Party in London has surged in the past year. Membership of the party has more than trebled and now stands at over 11,000. The party recently announced that they will be standing candidates in every seat in the capital and that they have achieved a 50-50 gender split amongst their candidates.