Thursday 18 December 1997
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,122 adults aged 18+ at 169 sampling points across Great Britain
between 12-15 December 1997.
Q1 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow?
(If undecided or refused at Q1)
Q2 Which party are you most inclined to support?
| | % |
| Conservative | 26 |
| Labour | 55 |
| Lib Dem | 15 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 3 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | 1 |
|
| Would not vote | 9 |
| Undecided | 4 |
| Refused | 1 |
Q3 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the Government is running the country?
Q4 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Blair is doing his job as Prime Minister?
Q5 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Hague is doing his job as leader of the Conservative Party?
Q6 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Ashdown is doing his job as Leader of the Liberal Democrats?
| | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know |
| | % | % | % |
| Government | 43 | 38 | 19 |
| Blair | 61 | 27 | 12 |
| Hague | 20 | 50 | 31 |
| Ashdown | 59 | 15 | 26 |
Q7 What would you say is the most important issue facing Britain today?
Q8 What do you see as other important issues facing Britain today?
| | Q7 / 8 |
| | % |
| National Health Service / Hospitals | 42 |
| Education / schools | 31 |
| Unemployment / factory closure / lack of industry | 31 |
| Common Market / EU / Europe / Single European Currency | 28 |
| Pensions / social security | 20 |
| Crime / law & order / violence / vandalism | 16 |
| Economy / economic situation | 14 |
| Pollution / environment | 9 |
| Housing | 8 |
| Poverty / inequality | 8 |
| Beef / BSE / Mad Cow Disease | 7 |
| Drug abuse | 5 |
| Race relations / immigration / immigrants | 4 |
| Morality / individual behaviour | 4 |
| Inflation / prices | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | 3 |
| Defence / foreign affairs | 2 |
| Transport / public transport | 2 |
| Taxation | 2 |
| Local government / council tax | 1 |
| Nuclear weapons / nuclear war / disarmament | 1 |
| AIDS | 1 |
| Animal welfare | 1 |
| Countryside / rural life | 1 |
| Scottish / Welsh Assembly / Devolution | 1 |
| Privatisation | * |
| Pound / exchange rate / value of pound | * |
| Trade unions / strikes | * |
| Other | 13 |
| Don't know | 4 |
Q9 Do you think that the general economic condition of the country will improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next 12 months?
| | % |
| Improve | 26 |
| Stay the same | 36 |
| Get worse | 30 |
| Don't know | 8 |
Q10 Which of these statements comes closest to your view of Mr Blair?
Q11 Which of these statements comes closest to your view of Mr Hague?
| | Mr Blair | Mr Hague |
| | % | % |
| I like him and I like his policies | 47 | 10 |
| I like him but I dislike his policies | 22 | 14 |
| I dislike him but I like his policies | 7 | 12 |
| I dislike him and I dislike his policies | 14 | 38 |
| No opinion | 10 | 26 |
Q12 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Prince Charles is doing his job as Prince of Wales?
Q13 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the Queen is doing her job as Monarch?
| | Prince Charles | The Queen |
| | % | % |
| Satisfied | 61 | 72 |
| Dissatisfied | 29 | 21 |
| Don't know | 10 | 7 |
Q14 On balance, do you think Britain would be better off or worse off if the monarchy was abolished, or do you think it would make no difference?
| | % |
| Better off | 15 |
| Worse off | 55 |
| Make no difference | 27 |
| Don't know | 3 |
Q15 Which party did you vote for at the General Election in May 1997? If you are not sure, or did not vote, please say so.
| | % |
| Conservative | 21 |
| Labour | 45 |
| Lib Dem | 10 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 2 |
| Referendum Party | 1 |
| Green Party | * |
| Other | 1 |
|
| Did not vote | 16 |
| Too young | 1 |
| Can't remember | 1 |
| Refused | 2 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,122 adults aged 18+ at 169 sampling points across Great Britain.
Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 12-15 December 1997.
Base: All respondents, unless stated.
The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (9%), are undecided (4%) or refuse to name a party (1%).
All figures are in percentages. Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, the exclusion of don't knows or computer rounding.
Data were weighted to match the profile of the population.
An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.