Half of voters think Labour failing to deliver mission-led government

Almost half of voters think the Labour government is doing a bad job of delivering a mission-led government, a new poll has revealed.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos, found that just one in five (20 percent) thought the government is doing a good job in delivering a mission-led government, compared to 48 percent who said the opposite.

Amid suggestions that the government’s missions are being quietly phased out, only around a quarter of Britons (23 percent) said they knew a fair amount or a great deal about the five missions, while 72 percent told the pollster they did not know much or anything about them. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) said they were unfamiliar with the government’s Plan for Change.

Those polled also expressed negative views of the government’s performance on all five of its missions and expressed pessimism about the government’s ability to deliver on them by the next general election.

Despite this, Labour is still seen as the best party to deliver on kickstarting economic growth, building an NHS fit for the future and breaking down the barriers to opportunity.

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‘Still an opportunity for Labour to win back public confidence’

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said: “Taking stock after one year of government, our latest polling underscores a persistent and growing challenge for Labour. While it’s not unusual for a new administration to see a dip in public satisfaction as it faces up to the hard yards of government, what is notable here are the consistently negative perceptions of Labour’s core, mission-led agenda.

“The fact that since the start of the year growing numbers are saying the government is doing a bad job delivering on key missions like the economy, crime and the NHS should be a significant cause of concern in Number 10. These aren’t peripheral issues; they are pillars of the government’s platform and key among the public’s priorities too.

“It is also telling that the government’s focus on taking a mission-led approach hasn’t really been picked up by the public. While the missions themselves do reflect areas of public concern, few Britons are noticing a difference in the way Labour is governing, which suggests the government has more to do to get its message of delivery to cut through the noise of day-to-day politics.

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“The fragmentation of trust across the political landscape is also notable. No single party inspires a majority of public confidence on any of the five missions. While Labour holds a narrow lead on the NHS and breaking down barriers to opportunity, the dead heat on the economy with the Conservatives and Reform UK, and Reform UK’s lead on ‘taking back our streets’, highlights a volatile and divided electorate.

“Whilst this suggests that voters are currently shopping around for the party they believe can best deliver on specific issues, it means there is still an opportunity for Labour – and for their opponents – to win back public confidence if they can convince Britons they can deliver the change they want to see.”

Number 10 refused to comment.

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,094 adults aged 18-75 across Great Britain. Polling was conducted online between July 11 and 14, with data weighted to match the profile of the population.

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