Thursday 26 November 1998
Research study conducted for The Times Newspaper
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,883 adults aged 18+ at 154 sampling points across Great Britain
between 20-23 November 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: 1,883
| | % |
| Conservative | 29 |
| Labour | 53 |
| Liberal Democrats | 13 |
| Scottish/Welsh Nationalist | 2 |
| Green Party | 1 |
| Referendum Party | * |
| Other | 1 |
|
| Would not vote | 10 |
| Undecided | 8 |
| Refused | 2 |
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: 990
| | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Don't know | Index |
| | % | % | % | ± |
| Government | 49 | 37 | 14 | +12 |
| Blair | 61 | 29 | 10 | +32 |
| Hague | 27 | 48 | 25 | -21 |
| Ashdown | 52 | 21 | 27 | +31 |
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: 990
| | Q7 | Q7/8 |
| | % | % |
| National Health Service/Hospitals | 10 | 37 |
| Unemployment/factory closure/lack of industry | 18 | 35 |
| Education/schools | 8 | 32 |
| Common Market/EU/Europe/Single European Currency | 17 | 26 |
| Economy/economic situation | 11 | 21 |
| Crime/law & order/violence/vandalism | 6 | 17 |
| Pensions/welfare security | 2 | 11 |
| Defence/foreign affairs | 2 | 8 |
| Poverty/inequality | 2 | 7 |
| Housing | 1 | 7 |
| Race relations/immigration/immigrants | 2 | 6 |
| Drug abuse | 1 | 6 |
| Inflation/prices | 2 | 5 |
| Pollution/environment | 1 | 5 |
| Taxation | 1 | 5 |
| Low pay/minimum wage/fair wages | 1 | 4 |
| Morality/individual behaviour | 1 | 4 |
| Transport/public transport | 1 | 3 |
| Beef/BSE/Mad Cow Disease | 1 | 2 |
| Nuclear weapons/nuclear war/disarmament | 1 | 2 |
| Pound/exchange rate/value of pound | 1 | 2 |
| Countryside/rural life | * | 2 |
| Local government/council tax | * | 2 |
| Animal welfare | * | 1 |
| Scottish/Welsh Assembly/Devolution Constitutional reform | * | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | * | 1 |
| Privatisation | * | 1 |
| AIDS | 0 | * |
| Trade unions/strikes | 0 | * |
|
| Other | 2 | 6 |
| Don't know | 8 | 7 |
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: 990
| | % |
| Improve | 16 |
| Stay the same | 31 |
| Get worse | 47 |
| Don't know | 6 |
| MORI Economic Optimism Index (EOI) | -31% |
Q10 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Gordon Brown is doing his job as Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Base: 990
| | % |
| Satisfied | 45 |
| Dissatisfied | 29 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 26 |
| Net satisfied | +16% |
Q11 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"?
Base: 990
| | % |
| Agree | 46 |
| Disagree | 33 |
| Don't know / no opinion | 21 |
| Net agree | +13% |
Q12 Since it was elected in May 1997, do you think the Government has done a good job or a bad job at ...
Base: 990
| | Good job | Bad job | Don't know | Net good job |
| | % | % | % | (±) |
| Managing the economy | 50 | 29 | 21 | +21 |
| Handling taxation and public expenditure | 44 | 36 | 20 | +8 |
| Keeping unemployment down | 43 | 36 | 21 | +7 |
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,883 adults aged 18+ at 154 sampling points across Great Britain.
Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face on 20-23 November 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 (2%).
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%.