Labour members blame austerity and Brexit for economic problems – poll

Labour members believe Coalition-era austerity and Britain’s departure from the EU are the two main factors behind the UK’s economic woes, exclusive polling for LabourList has shown.

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves put growth at the heart of their government’s early messaging, but Britain’s economy has remained stubbornly sluggish throughout their tenure so far.

Polling carried out for LabourList by Survation found that Labour members overwhelmingly blamed two main factors for the current economic mess facing the country.

Three quarters of members identified the Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition’s austerity policies (75%) and Brexit (74%) as being responsible for the ongoing problems faced by the Treasury.

Just nine percent of those polled said austerity was not a factor, and only 8% believe Brexit played no role.

Rachel Reeves has herself said Brexit unleashed long-term damage upon the British economy, saying that productivity challenges have been “compounded by the way in which the UK left the European Union”.

But Labour members were more divided on other frequently citied causes of Britain’s economic gloom.

While the Covid pandemic was all-consuming in everyone’s lives for the best part of two years, fewer than one in three (32%) cited it as major contributor to economic disaster in Britain – with more (35%) even saying it was not responsible.

This comes despite experts attributing the early 2020s inflation surge to supply chain shocks caused by the pandemic.

Around four in ten (39%) Labour members believed the 2008 global financial crisis is a major factor behind the country’s fiscal turmoil, with only slightly fewer (36%) saying it was not.

However, despite Rachel Reeves’ low net approval rating of -18, party members broadly disagreed that the Chancellor’s fiscal rules are a factor behind the UK’s economic decline.

More than half of those polled (57%) said the fiscal rules are not to blame against just one in five (20%) who said they are.

The poll is the latest in a series of regular polls LabourList is publishing in partnership with leading pollsters Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner.

Survation surveyed 1,013 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between November 18 and 20.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region, 2020 Labour leadership vote and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the results of the leadership and deputy leadership election.

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