What does the public expect from a Labour Government?
All recent polling suggests Labour is headed for a considerable win in this election, but what’s less clear is what the public actually expects from a Labour government. We polled the public to see what kind of impact they expect a Labour government to have and how quickly they expect Starmer to get it done.
Headline findings:
The public generally expect a Labour government to have more of a positive impact on the NHS than on schools, police, or unemployment. 42% of the public expect Labour to make the NHS a lot or a little better, while only 25% of the public expect them to positively impact crime rates.
About half of the population expects Labour to have an impact on all of these areas within 5 years, slightly more for expectations about the NHS. Nearly a quarter of the public expects them to have an impact on NHS waiting times for a doctor’s appointment (24%) and in A&E (22%) within a year.
Between 21% and 26% of the public don’t think a Labour government will ever have a positive impact on these public services.
It’s obviously a more optimistic picture among Labour voters:
Between 60% and 70% of Labour voters think a Labour government will have a positive impact on the NHS. Over half of Labour voters think they will improve local economies (61%) and unemployment (54%). About half think a Labour government will improve schools (53%) and police effectiveness (53%) as well as crime rates (47%).
On the flip side… about 1 in 10 Labour voters think they will make these public services worse. Between a quarter and a third of Labour voters think these public services will stay the same.
About 40% of Labour voters expect a Labour government to have an impact on NHS waiting times for a doctor's appointment (41%) and in A&E (39%) within a year. 82% of Labour voters expect an impact within 5 years.
About a third of Labour voters expect an impact on the other public services within a year, and about three quarters (from 77% to 72%) expect an impact within 5 years.
So long term, the electorate definitely expects a Labour government to improve basic public services before the country goes to the polls again in 5 years.
But they don't have especially high expectations for how quickly that will happen... that is for now.
How people react to an actual Labour govt could differ widely from their expectations.
Photo by Ming Jun Tan on Unsplash