Amid A&E crisis, health is becoming one of the most important issues to voters

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Concerns about healthcare are on the rise with voters, according to new polling. The YouGov issues tracker shows that since 2010 health has risen to become one of the foremost concerns of the British public – at the time of the last election around 20% thought that it was one of the most important issues, while that figure now stands at 46%.

Immigration and the economy still lead as the most important subjects, but their leads over health are significantly lower than what they once were. 52% of people see them as among the most important issues. You can see the YouGov tracking of all issues over the past four years here.

This will come as good news to Labour, who hold a consistently strong lead on health – a lead that is unlikely to be any weaker in light of the current A&E crisis. According to YouGov, 35% of people think Labour is best placed to run the NHS, compares to just 23% who say the same of the Conservatives.

At Prime Minister’s Questions today, David Cameron accused Labour of “playing politics” with the A&E problems, a charge that is unlikely to gain much traction among people who see the handling of the NHS as one of the most salient topics in the coming election. PMQs was immediately followed by an Urgent Question from Andy Burnham to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt concerning the Government’s reaction to the crisis.