Monday 27 October 1997
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper - published 30 October 1997
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,772 adults aged 18+ at 166 sampling points across Great Britain between 24-27 October 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 |
60 |
| Lib Dem |
12 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist |
2 |
| Green Party |
* |
| 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 |
55 |
22 |
23 |
| Blair |
72 |
15 |
12 |
| Hague |
23 |
41 |
36 |
| 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 |
47 |
| Education/schools |
36 |
| Common Market/EU/Europe/Single European Currency |
35 |
| Unemployment/factory closure/lack of industry |
32 |
| Crime/law & order/violence/vandalism |
26 |
| Economy/economic situation |
14 |
| Pensions/welfare security | 12 |
| Housing |
8 |
| Race relations/immigration/immigrants |
8 |
| Pollution/environment | 7 |
| Drug abuse |
6 |
| Morality/individual behaviour |
4 |
| Inflation/prices |
4 |
| Transport/public transport |
3 |
| Northern Ireland |
2 |
| Taxation |
2 |
| Defence/foreign affairs | 2 |
| Scottish/Welsh Assembly | 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 |
| Privatisation |
1 |
| Countryside/rural life | * |
| Trade unions/strikes | * |
| Other | 12 |
| Don't know |
5 |
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 |
31 |
| Stay the same |
39 |
| Get worse |
24 |
| Don't know |
7 |
Q10-12
Here is a list of things both favourable and unfavourable that have been said about various politicians.
I would like you to pick out all those statements that you feel fit ... Mr Blair / Mr Hague / Mr Ashdown.
| | Mr Blair
Q 10 |
Mr Hague
Q 11 |
Mr Ashdown
Q 12 |
| | % |
% |
% |
| A capable leader | 58 |
9 |
38 |
| Good in a crisis | 18 |
3 |
16 |
| Understands world problems |
31 |
6 |
24 |
| Tends to talk down to people |
9 |
21 |
7 |
| Rather narrow minded |
3 |
16 |
6 |
| Too inflexible | 6 |
9 |
5 |
| Has sound judgement |
27 |
5 |
21 |
| More honest than most politicians |
36 |
9 |
32 |
| Down to earth | 37 |
8 |
34 |
| Understands the problems facing Britain |
48 |
10 |
31 |
| Patriotic |
26 |
18 |
32 |
| Has got a lot of personality |
50 |
5 |
29 |
| Rather inexperienced |
19 |
52 |
6 |
| Out of touch with ordinary people |
6 |
29 |
6 |
| No opinion | 7 |
24 |
20 |
Q13 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 |
46 |
| Lib Dem |
10 |
| Scot / Welsh Nationalist |
1 |
| Referendum Party |
1 |
| Green Party |
* |
| Other |
* |
|
| Did not vote | 15 |
| Too young |
1 |
| Can't remember | 1 |
| Refused |
2 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,772 adults aged 18+ at 166 sampling points across Great Britain.
Interviews were conducted face-to-face on 24-27 October 1997. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population.
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. An asterisk (*) denotes a figure between zero and 0.5%.