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Government are “out of touch” say voters

March 31, 2012 7:58 pm

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A poll for the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror has found that 72% of people agree with the statement:

“This Government is out of touch with ordinary voters”

The impact of the budget, the run on petrol and perhaps (even just for comic value) the pasty tax, are starting to be felt. But it’s becoming clear that the “we’re all in this together” message was thrown out of the window by the Chancellor a week last Wednesday – and the public have noticed.

Specifically, 81% believe the government created unneccesary panic over fuel shortages, 64% oppose the granny tax and 71% are against the pasty tax. Labour still lags behind the Tories on the economy, but when it comes to trust, John Rentoul notes:

“The “trust” gap between the Conservative team and the Labour team was 25 points (between net -20 and -45) before the Budget and is now 4 points (-35 and -39).”

Despite the horrrorshow that was Bradford West, Labour are for now firmly back in the game. However at the moment that appears to be through anger at the government, rather than through any particular love for Labour. But there’s a vacuum to be filled…

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  • Holly

    The Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror?
    Who’d a guessed it eh?
    What result were you expecting?

    • Amber Star

      Hi Holly, 

      The poll was conducted by ComRes. It wasn’t a self-selecting poll of Mirror/Indie readers. It was a proper poll of a random sample of  the UK public which would then be statistically weighted to ensure that all regions & demographics were represented in the correct proportions.

      UK Polling Report is a great site to visit, if you want to understand polling. Just put your question to Anthony Wells in a comment & he will almost always respond with links to articles which explain everything about polling.

  • Geraint

    It is a good platform to build upon, the government been damaged by this week, especially the Tories. We now need to communicate to the voters some compelling reasons to vote Labour, otherwise people wont vote for us.

  • http://twitter.com/gonzozzz dave stone

    The Tories are on the ropes. We’ve had it all in the last couple of weeks – the millionaires budget, policy for sale over dinner, the petrol panic and George Galloway taking votes off the Tories in Bradford West (reported in today’s Independent).

    Ed needs to shrug off New Labour inhibitions and go in hard and nail them while they’re down.

    • geedee0520

      ‘The Tories are on the ropes’ Meanwhile – in Bradford…..

      • http://twitter.com/gonzozzz dave stone

        Labour vote down by 20.3%

        Tory vote down by 22.7%

        You can’t argue with the facts.

        • jaime taurosangastre candelas

          Most tories in Bradford probably voted Respect as part of a tactical ploy.  I got an email from a Lib Dem newsgroup today to say that was certainly what had happened with Lib Dem voters.  There is a suggestion that there was cross-party coordination, but I do not know if that is the case, nor whether it was locally arranged or sanctioned by party officers.

          I’m in two minds on tactical voting – I can see the sense and the maths, but it would not feel right to me.  I’ve never done it.

          • Duncan

            It’s a convenient thing to claim when nobody votes for you.

          • jaime taurosangastre candelas

            I don’t think it really matters why the tory or Lib Dem votes collapsed – whether it was tactical voting or voters disappearing for other reasons.  Neither were ever going to win.  The only result that really matters was was the collapse in the Labour vote, as the incumbents, and a party that should given everything else have stormed home with a big win.

            I’ve seen a few comments here on LL from some people that very confidently assert that the reason that Labour lost was Tony Blair / Iraq, or not being old Labour enough, or perhaps a combination, or perhaps the still existing New Labour tinge to the PLP.  Perhaps they are right, although they seem to have no more insight than I do.  

            I suspect that it is not going to be productive to leap to conclusions, to group-think into a self-reinforcing comfort zone, but rather to actually listen to what emerges in the next few days and weeks.  There is anecdotal evidence that local tribal splits played a part – was that the case, was it related to politics or business?

          • http://twitter.com/gonzozzz dave stone

            “The only result that really matters was the collapse in the Labour vote”

            That’s utter obfuscation and twaddle.

            You won’t like dealing with it and you attempt to distract others from dealing with it, but the result that really mattered was George Galloway standing as the Real Labour candidate and winning.

            George won votes from people who had previously voted Tory and for all other parties.

            The Blairites insist Labour must mimic the Tories to win votes but George won Tory votes by standing as Real Labour.

          • treborc

            I suspect both parties will be offering sweets to the middle class before long, the one thing for the Tories they can give it, the labour party can only promise it.

          • GuyM

            Galloway didn’t stand as Real Labour, he stood as a Islamic candidate, as he always does, in a constituency where the muslim vote was high enough to do so.

            The problem for Labour is how many similar constituencies there are in their heartlands that might go the same way.

            Labour has been in servitude to the UK islamic vote for years, it would be funny if they stabbed you in the back now where they are able to.

          • http://twitter.com/gonzozzz dave stone

            “Galloway didn’t stand as Real Labour, he stood as a Islamic candidate,”

            Your problem is that you think all Muslims share one opinion.

            Like Christians, Muslims hold a range of political views.

            Galloway, as Labour used to, directs his appeal to a broadly working class electorate. And it has worked.
            And that’s what you don’t like and want to disqualify – that ordinary people are capable of political action.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

            Yes. In Bradford’s inner wards, Tory councillors have been elected in three of them in the last five years

          • Amber Star

            Yes but GG only won those LibDem & Tory votes as Labour spoilers, not because they believed in his policies.

  • Politique

    Mark, You are correct to suggest or rather reiterate that the government is out of touch, but it goes further than that. Mainstream politicians are deemed to be out of touch and that includes Labour. It would not be wise to deflect the serious issues in the Labour Party that turn people off and say it is the government that is out of touch.

    Where did the “Out of Touch” phrase originate from?

  • David Larder

    Among the white working-class voters in Bassetlaw where I am currently canvassing, I am finding various types of voting patterns.  The first is loyal traditional Labour.  The 2nd are those who want to continue watching the telly and so don’t even answer the door  although there is a car in the drive.  However, far too many people are saying that it is not just the government, which is out of touch but all politicians who don’t stand and listen to genuine concerns.  The phrase being used is “they all piss in the same pot”.

  • Daniel Speight

    The question is, can the PLP take advantage of the Tories’ problems? A problem one has to suspect is that the majority of the PLP are Blairites, (see their support of David Miliband), and with the Cameron being the acknowledged heir to Blair, what opposition can they really pose.

  • Derekjs

    Labour is as out of touch as The Coalition and this is why SNP, independents like Galloway and soon the new face of Plaid Cymru, are all taking over the left of centre ground. I firmly believe that there is a growing appetite for a return to fairness especially over the distribution of wealth. Blair and his right wing, world staging, presidential approach was really a continuation of the Tory philosophy. He helped the rich get richer (feathering his own next very nicely) and the poor get poorer. Someone needs to come along and reverse that and I am afraid posh boys like the Millibands will never truly represent the working classes and he under-priviledged of this country. Labour has to set the agenda and use rationale persuasion to win voters over rather than simply move towards the popular view of the squeezed middle (of which I am one by the way). My limited wealth will improve if we sort out those at the bottom

    • GuyM

      The problem is there aren’t enough “rich” to go around to meet your redistributionist desires, especially if a load get worried and leave the UK.

      I suspect that as always what starts off as a left wing policy to hit the “rich” will morph into a definition of “rich” that includes most 40% tax rate payers as well.

      That’s the problem with a political ideology based upon envy and the support of those on mean UK wages, to those people anyone in the 40% band is “rich” and fair game for redistribution because after all you only earn £40,000 pa and above if you are screwing the working classes don’t you?

  • Mike Murray

    Was it just incompetence by the right wing coalition to start a run on petrol or a deliberate policy designed to kill two birds with one stone: i.e.,  increase the tax take and consumer spending before the end of the financial year, thus averting a double dip recession, whilst at the  same time turning public opinion against the unions?  Are they really out of touch or simply the same old calculating Tories?

    • GuyM

      I don’t think the tax take will make much difference in terms of recession or not.

      But in terms of getting public opinion against Unite and the nut in charge of it, yep a good idea in the long run.

      • Mike Murray

        I rather think that after the way the Tories and their Lib Dem Stooges have turned a drama into a crisis and have created needless mayhem the public are more likely to be saying “And these people are also in charge of the economy?”

        • Holly

          Was it really the politicians who turned this into what we have seen from the public?

          There was a possibility of a strike. tanker drivers had been balloted and voted for a strike.
          Do you think it was wrong of the government to advise the public of this and ask them to keep their tanks topped up, maybe store some in a jerry can in the garage?
          The news channels must have mentioned the word ‘panic’ more times in the first day of covering this, then went on show, as their top story, queues of people at petrol stations,(there are ALWAYS queues at our local filling stations) adding to the sense of ‘urgency’ to the non existent problem.
          The latest government advice is not to smoke around children, now how many will shrug and say, ‘nanny state’ and ignore the advice given?
          Have the news channels got smoking around children as their top story?
          No they haven’t, and I find that a lot more important than being advised to top up your tank and store some fuel in your garage.
          We are ‘herded, by the media, told how to think, what to hear and that is far more dangerous than being advised to top up your tank, just in case, before the strike went ahead..
          The thing is, the media repeat their ‘stories’ every half hour, and eventually we are brainwashed into thinking/behaving just the way they want us to.
          The news channels have played to the hilt the ‘story’ that Cameron & Osborne are out of touch because they don’t eat hot pies, and many quite sensible people have fallen for it hook line & sinker. How many people don’t eat pies on a regular basis in the UK?
          How many vegetarians eat hot pies from anywhere, never mind from Greggs?
          They are doing the same with the Bradford West result. Trying to play it down as a one-off, the muslim vote, well it was not only Muslims who voted for Galloway, and the many were young voters, so British born voters.
          We really have to get a grip and stop being manipulated how to think by the media and their saturation of what they want us to think.
          If YOU think the politicians are out of touch at least do so because that is YOUR opinion, not because the media tells you they are.
          Some in politics are now ‘fretting’ about the lack of spin from the Tory side to rebut some of the stuff put out in the media and demanding Cameron changes the way he leads the party, he has told them there will be no big changes to how he does things.
          Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
          Arrogance or playing it straight?

  • Dave Postles

    Where are the LibDems on liberty?  Apparently, the Coalition is drafting legislation to allow GCHQ to monitor all electronic communications.  Talk about authoritarian government.  

  • Dave Postles

    ‘Out of touch’?
    No, they mean to be very much ‘in touch’ with your electronic communications.  Having castigated Labour’s ‘authoritarianism’, they are introducing virtually the same surveillance.  The LibDems are hypocrites and the Tories not far behind.

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