Thursday 17 December 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,864 adults aged 18+ at 155 sampling points across Great Britain
between 11-14 December 1998.
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?
Base: 1,864
| | % |
| Conservative | 27 |
| Labour | 54 |
| Liberal Democrats | 12 |
| Scottish/Welsh Nationalist | 4 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | 5 |
|
| Would not vote | 10 |
| Undecided | 8 |
| 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?
Base: 979
| | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know | Index |
| | % | % | % | ± |
| Government | 46 | 40 | 14 | +6 |
| Blair | 60 | 29 | 11 | +31 |
| Hague | 24 | 51 | 25 | -27 |
| Ashdown | 48 | 21 | 31 | +27 |
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?
Base: 979
| | Q7 | Q7/8 |
| | % | % |
| National Health Service/Hospitals | 10 | 34 |
| Common Market/EU/Europe/Single European Currency | 24 | 32 |
| Unemployment/factory closure/lack of industry | 16 | 30 |
| Education/schools | 6 | 26 |
| Economy/economic situation | 8 | 18 |
| Crime/law & order/violence/vandalism | 5 | 17 |
| Pensions/welfare security | 3 | 10 |
| Housing | 2 | 8 |
| Poverty/inequality | 2 | 8 |
| Race relations/immigration/immigrants | 3 | 7 |
| Drug abuse | 2 | 6 |
| Inflation/prices | 2 | 6 |
| Defence/foreign affairs | 2 | 5 |
| Morality/individual behaviour | 2 | 5 |
| Transport/public transport | 1 | 4 |
| Low pay/minimum wage/fair wages | * | 3 |
| Pollution/environment | 1 | 3 |
| Taxation | 1 | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | * | 2 |
| Beef/BSE/Mad Cow Disease | * | 1 |
| Countryside/rural life | * | 1 |
| Nuclear weapons/nuclear war/disarmament | * | 1 |
| Pound/exchange rate/value of pound | * | 1 |
| Privatisation | * | 1 |
| Scottish/Welsh Assembly/Devolution/Constitutional reform | * | 1 |
| Local government/council tax | 0 | 1 |
| Animal welfare | * | * |
| AIDS | 0 | * |
| Trade unions/strikes | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 2 | 5 |
| Don't know | 7 | 6 |
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?
Base: 979
| | % |
| Improve | 16 |
| Stay the same | 30 |
| Get worse | 46 |
| Don't know | 38 |
| MORI Economic Optimism Index (EOI) | -30% |
Q10 Which of these statements comes closest to your view of Mr Blair?
Base: 979
| | % |
| I like him and I like his policies | 42 |
| I like him but I dislike his policies | 22 |
| I dislike him but I like his policies | 9 |
| I dislike him and I dislike his policies | 15 |
| No opinion | 12 |
Q11 Which of these statements comes closest to your view of Mr Hague?
Base: 979
| | % |
| I like him and I like his policies | 10 |
| I like him but I dislike his policies | 14 |
| I dislike him but I like his policies | 13 |
| I dislike him and I dislike his policies | 36 |
| No opinion | 27 |
When Tony Blair became Prime Minister in May 1997 he said 'Things can only get better'.
Q12 Since the General Election in May 1997, how, if at all, would you say things have changed for Britain as a whole? Would you say that things have got better or worse, or have things stayed the same?
Q13 Since the General Election in May 1997, how, if at all, would you say things have changed for you personally? Would you say that things have got better or worse, or have things stayed the same?
Base: 979
| | Britain | Personally |
| | Q12 | Q13 |
| | % | % |
| Much better | 2 | 3 |
| A little better | 24 | 12 |
| Stayed the same | 45 | 60 |
| A little worse | 20 | 17 |
| Much worse | 6 | 7 |
| Don't know | 3 | 1 |
|
| Better | 26 | 15 |
| Worse | 26 | 18 |
| Net better (+) | 0 | -3 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,864 adults aged 18+ at 155 sampling points across Great Britain.
Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 11-14 December 1998.
Base: All respondents, unless stated.
The voting intention figures exclude those who say they would not vote (10%), are undecided (8%) 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%.