Poll Archive
The Times Poll - January 2009
Fieldwork: January 9th 2009 - January 11th 2009
published by The Times
Change since previous poll (December 5th-7th 2008) shown in brackets
| Labour | 33% (-2%) |
|---|---|
| Conservative | 43% (+4%) |
| Lib Dem | 15% (-2%) |
| Others | 9% (-) |
The ‘Others' vote is broken down between:
| SNP | 3%- |
|---|---|
| Green | 3%- |
| UKIP | 1%- |
| BNP | 1%- |
| Plaid Cymru | 1% |
With Britain's economy facing problems in the months or years ahead, who do you most trust to deal with it in the best interests of Britain?
| 5-7 Sep-07 | 17 Sep-07 | 5-7 Oct-07 | 1-3 Feb-08 | 20 Feb-08 | 12 Mar-08 | 2-4 May-08 | 29-31 Aug-08 | 3-5 Oct-08 | 7-9 Nov-08 | 25-26 Nov-08 | 5-7 Dec-08 | 9-11 Jan-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown & Darling | 61% | 56% | 43% | 33% | 38% | 43% | 30% | 30% | 31% | 36% | 38% | 40% | 38% |
| Cameron & Osborne | 27% | 18% | 28% | 36% | 34% | 40% | 40% | 39% | 38% | 33% | 35% | 31% | 35% |
| Neither/Don't know | 12% | 26% | 29% | 28% | 26% | 17% | 26% | 25% | 29% | 30% | 27% | 30% | 28% |
| Net Brown & Darling | +34% | +38% | +15% | -3% | +4% | +3% | -10% | -9% | -7% | +3% | +3% | +9% | +3% |
Putting aside your party preference, which of the three main party leaders do you feel would make the better Prime Minister...
Right now, to deal with Britain's economy in recession?
| Nov 7-9 | Nov 25-26 | Dec 5-7 | Jan 9-11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Brown | 52% | 42% | 39% | 37% |
| David Cameron | 32% | 36% | 32% | 37% |
| Nick Clegg | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Net Brown lead | 20% | 6% | 7% | 0% |
To lead Britain forward after the next general election?
| Nov 7-9 | Nov 25-26 | Dec 5-7 | Jan 9-11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Brown | 35% | 33% | 34% | 31% |
| David Cameron | 42% | 41% | 36% | 43% |
| Nick Clegg | 10% | 7% | 7% | 7% |
| Net Brown lead | -7% | -8% | -2% | -12% |
Now I'd like to ask how optimistic or pessimistic you are about Britain's economy. Thinking about all the things that may affect the economy - such as changes in salaries and wages, the level of interest rates and tax, the rates of inflation and unemployment, and the strength of the pound – how do you think the British economy will fare over the next year a) for the country as a whole, and b) for you and your family?
| Sep-03 | Mar-04 | Nov-04 | Apr-05 | Nov-05 | Mar-07 | Sep-07 | Apr-08 | Jul-08 | Nov-08 | Jan-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country - Well | 65% | 64% | 64% | 77% | 64% | 56% | 53% | 39% | 22% | 31% | 18% |
| Country - Badly | 36% | 29% | 28% | 19% | 28% | 36% | 45% | 59% | 77% | 66% | 79% |
| Country - Net | +29% | +35% | +36% | +58% | +36% | +20% | +8% | -20% | -55% | -35% | -61% |
| Me & family - Well | 65% | 63% | 63% | 75% | 63% | 60% | 61% | 50% | 32% | 51% | 46% |
| Me & family - Badly | 35% | 31% | 28% | 19% | 28% | 34% | 34% | 47% | 66% | 44% | 50% |
| Me & family - Net | +30% | +32% | +35% | +56% | +35% | +26% | +27% | +3% | -34% | +7% | -4% |
Thinking about the way that the media – print and broadcast – have covered Britain's economic situation in recent months, do you think they have exaggerated how bad things really are, or understated how bad things really are, or reported things pretty accurately?
| All | Men | Women | AB | C1 | C2 | DE | Lab | Con | LD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exaggerated significantly | 13% | 15% | 12% | 17% | 14% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Exaggerated somewhat | 19% | 17% | 21% | 22% | 20% | 12% | 19% | 25% | 16% | 11% |
| Total EXAGGERATED | 32% | 32% | 33% | 39% | 34% | 21% | 30% | 38% | 34% | 28% |
| Understated somewhat | 11% | 11% | 12% | 9% | 13% | 11% | 13% | 10% | 13% | 7% |
| Understated significantly | 11% | 13% | 10% | 11% | 7% | 15% | 15% | 6% | 11% | 19% |
| Total UNDERSTATED | 22% | 24% | 22% | 20% | 20% | 26% | 28% | 16% | 24% | 26% |
| Report ACCURATELY | 38% | 38% | 39% | 38% | 38% | 43% | 35% | 40% | 39% | 43% |
Please give a mark out of 10 for how well you think (rotate order) Gordon Brown/David Cameron has done in responding to the current economic situation in Britain. And now please give a mark out of 10 for how well you think [the other leader] has done in responding to the current economic situation.
| Marks out of 10 (mean) | All | Men | Women | AB | C1 | C2 | DE | Lab | Con | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Brown | 4.97 | 4.97 | 4.96 | 5.24 | 5.02 | 4.79 | 4.73 | 6.72 | 4.08 | 5.45 |
| David Cameron | 4.94 | 4.79 | 5.08 | 4.79 | 5.20 | 4.76 | 4.91 | 4.49 | 6.28 | 4.85 |
| Net Gordon Brown lead | 0.03 | 0.18 | -0.12 | 0.45 | -0.18 | 0.03 | -0.18 | 2.23 | -2.20 | 0.60 |
I am going to read out some things that different people have identified as worrying aspects of Britain's economic downturn. For each one I read out please say how concerned you are, using a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 means it doesn't worry you at all and 100 means it worries you a very great deal.
| Worry index (mean score) | All | Men | Women | AB | C1 | C2 | DE | Lab | Con | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rising cost of living | 74.5 | 70.1 | 78.3 | 69.1 | 73.3 | 80.5 | 76.6 | 72.4 | 84.2 | 70.3 |
The prospect of higher taxes to pay for the measures being taken to address the downturn | 72.7 | 69.6 | 75.3 | 69.3 | 74.8 | 74.7 | 72.3 | 66.8 | 77.3 | 70.4 |
| The general fear of a really serious, long-lasting recession, and its overall effect on Britain | 72.5 | 69.7 | 74.9 | 68.6 | 70.8 | 78.3 | 73.8 | 71.6 | 72.8 | 67.7 |
| The rise in government borrowing & national debt arising from the measures being taken to deal with the downturn | 69.9 | 65.9 | 73.5 | 70.6 | 70.1 | 69.8 | 69.2 | 59.3 | 77.4 | 72.8 |
| The government printing money and this leading to high inflation | 69.6 | 66.6 | 72.2 | 70.6 | 68.8 | 69.6 | 69.4 | 62.8 | 76.0 | 71.9 |
| The drop in the value of the pound against other currencies making imports & overseas travel more expensive | 64.8 | 60.9 | 68.2 | 62.5 | 64.8 | 67.8 | 64.6 | 60.2 | 68.1 | 67.2 |
| The drop in the stock market reducing the value of my pension | 64.0 | 58.4 | 68.9 | 64.4 | 60.9 | 65.7 | 65.5 | 58.2 | 66.3 | 64.9 |
| The security of my money in the bank | 59.4 | 53.5 | 64.6 | 53.6 | 61.8 | 61.7 | 61.0 | 52.3 | 61.4 | 55.9 |
| Major stores closing down | 58.8 | 51.8 | 64.8 | 51.9 | 58.8 | 61.0 | 64.4 | 56.6 | 59.4 | 55.9 |
| The prospect of possibly having to take a pay cut | 58.4 | 52.6 | 63.4 | 51.6 | 58.7 | 65.6 | 59.2 | 54.6 | 56.4 | 51.6 |
| Low interest rates reducing the return on my savings | 58.1 | 54.0 | 61.8 | 53.5 | 58.1 | 58.5 | 63.2 | 51.0 | 62.9 | 60.1 |
| The risk of losing my job | 53.5 | 48.3 | 58.1 | 46.5 | 56.3 | 58.9 | 53.3 | 49.8 | 48.6 | 49.6 |
| Falling property prices bringing me into negative equity on my home * | 47.3 | 41.9 | 51.9 | 41.8 | 44.2 | 52.9 | 52.3 | 42.7 | 49.3 | 47.0 |
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