Thursday 27 November 1997
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,879 adults aged 18+ at 170 sampling points across Great Britain between 21-24 November 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 | 24 |
| Labour | 56 |
| Lib Dem | 16 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 3 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | * |
|
| Would not vote | 8 |
| Undecided | 5 |
| 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 | 52 | 28 | 20 |
| Blair | 70 | 20 | 10 |
| Hague | 19 | 53 | 28 |
| Ashdown | 63 | 14 | 23 |
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 | 47 |
| Education / schools | 36 |
| Unemployment / factory closure / lack of industry | 34 |
| Common Market / EU / Europe / Single European Currency | 31 |
| Crime / law & order / violence / vandalism | 22 |
| Economy / economic situation | 16 |
| Pensions / social security | 13 |
| Housing | 8 |
| Pollution / environment | 7 |
| Drug abuse | 5 |
| Race relations / immigration / immigrants | 4 |
| Morality / individual behaviour | 4 |
| Inflation / prices | 4 |
| Defence / foreign affairs | 4 |
| Transport / public transport | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 |
| Taxation | 1 |
| Local government / council tax | 1 |
| Nuclear weapons / nuclear war / disarmament | 1 |
| AIDS | 1 |
| Animal welfare | 1 |
| Beef / BSE / Mad Cow Disease | 1 |
| Pound / exchange rate / value of pound | 1 |
| Countryside / rural life | 1 |
| Privatisation | * |
| Scottish / Welsh Assembly | * |
| Trade unions / strikes | * |
| Other | 16 |
| 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 | 30 |
| Stay the same | 40 |
| Get worse | 24 |
| Don't know | 6 |
Q10 Do you think that the Labour Government is doing ...
| | % |
| ... better than you expected at the time of the election | 20 |
| ... worse than you expected | 16 |
| ... or about the same as you expected | 58 |
| Don't know | 6 |
Q11 Since the general election in May, would you say that your standard of living has ...
| | % |
| ... improved | 7 |
| ... got worse | 17 |
| ... or has it stayed about the same | 75 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 1 |
Q12 On balance, do you agree or disagree with the statement that "in the long term, this government's policies will improve the state of Britain's economy"
| | % |
| Agree | 56 |
| Disagree | 27 |
| Don't know | 17 |
Q13 Since it was elected in May, do you think the government has or has not ...
| | Has | Has not | Don't know |
| | % | % | % |
| Kept its promises | 45 | 41 | 14 |
| Provided a strong voice for Britain in Europe | 61 | 25 | 14 |
| Handled the Northern Ireland issue well | 59 | 20 | 21 |
| Upheld high standards in public life | 55 | 28 | 17 |
Q14 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 | 22 |
| Labour | 45 |
| Lib Dem | 13 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist | 2 |
| Referendum Party | 1 |
| Green Party | * |
| Other | * |
|
| Did not vote | 14 |
| Too young | 1 |
| Can't remember | * |
| Refused | 2 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,879 adults aged 18+ at 170 sampling points across Great Britain.
Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 21-24 November 1997.
Base: All respondents, unless stated.
The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (8%), are undecided (5%) 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%.