Despite the Times’s headline (‘Poll shock as new U-turn looms’), there’s nothing particularly surprising in the toplines of today’s Populus poll. It merely confirms the trends already exposed by other pollsters: a widening Labour lead (Populus has it at nine points, up from four last month) and increasing discontent with the coalition (Populus has the government’s net approval rating at minus 24, down from minus 3 in September). Beneath the toplines though, there are some interesting details.
As well as asking respondents how well they think the government’s doing overall, Populus asked how well they think it’s doing on various issues:
So, it seems the public thinks the coalition is doing best at keeping crime down and tackling waste and benefit fraud, but is particularly dismayed at its efforts on economic issues.
The poll also asks for respondents’ ratings of individual politicians.
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