You Gov Post Budget Poll

You Gov's post budget poll is now on their website (see here). The detail is rather interesting. Here's some of the bits not given much coverage in the Telegraph article:

*Voting Intention was as follows:

Conservative 39%
Labour 31%
Lib Dem 16%
Other 14%

*As you know Mr Brown has been Chancellor for nearly 10 years now. Looking back, how would you rate his performance as Chancellor overall?

Excellent 10%
Good 27%
Fair 29%
Poor 19%
Very Poor 10%
Don't know 6%

*Gordon Brown has been accused of "Stalinist ruthlessness", and riding roughshod over other ministers. Others praise him for being tough and having a clear vision of the policies he believes are right for Britain. From what you know,

Brown behaves properly in being tough and having a clear vision 39%
He behaves improperly with "Stalinist ruthlessness" 25%
He is neither tough nor ruthless 18%
Don't know 18%

*Mr Brown announced that the tax on large "gas-guzzling" cars will almost double over the next two years, to £400 a year, while the tax on "green" fuel-efficient cars will fall from £50 to £35 a year. Do you think the Chancellor ...?

Is right to make these changes 46%
Is right - but should have gone further to penalise the owners of large cars 23%
Is wrong to increase the tax on large cars 25%
Don't know 6%

*The Chancellor announced a 2p cut in income tax from next year. Overall do you think he...?

Should have cut income tax more and announced smaller increases in overall spending 33%
Should NOT have cut income tax and spent MORE on public services 27%
Got the balance about right 29%
Don't know 12%


The figures rating the chancellor's performance over the last ten years are great. 66% think his performance was fair or better - not bad for someone who's done a notoriously tough job for a decade. I think Labour should emphasise this, and try and refer to Chancellor Brown (and when he is PM, ex-Chancellor Brown), so that people are reminded of the word "chancellor".

The question on "stalinist tendencies" was also interesting. I think the British people rather like the idea that Brown is tough, and they are fully aware that leadership involves doing hard things and that leaders shouldn't put the feelings of civil servants above the needs of the voters. It was said that Mrs T benefited enormously by being depicted in Spitting Image as the "only man in the cabinet", and perhaps Brown would benefit if people kept helpfully emphasising how tough he is - Andrew Turnbull here's your cue! Labour should also emphasise Mr Cameron's weakness (caving on his EPP promise, caving on his A list etc).

On the 2p cut, it looks like a big majority are secretly pleased that he did it. So much for the opposition believing that people oppose this.