‘Reagan question’ hangs over Conservatives as 53% say they feel worse off

Most voters say they feel worse off now than in 2019, and think they will be even worse off if Rishi Sunak wins the next election.
Just 15% of people told Ipsos they thought they would be better off if Rishi Sunak won the next election. (Justin Tallis/PA)
PA Wire
Christopher McKeon18 December 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

More than half the public feels worse off than they did in 2019 amid widespread pessimism about Britain’s economic future, a poll has found.

Some 53% of people told pollster Ipsos they felt worse off now than they did when the Conservatives were re-elected in 2019, including 45% of those who backed the party in that election.

The poll will make for worrying reading for the Prime Minister as the UK heads into an election year, with 51% saying they thought they would be even worse off if Rishi Sunak was re-elected.

Keiran Pedley, Ipsos’ director of politics, said: “For all the talk about immigration and Rwanda, it is worth remembering that the so-called ‘Reagan question’ still haunts the Conservative Party as a General Election approaches.”

The “Reagan question” refers to a 1980 campaign speech by then-US presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, who asked voters: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

The question is regarded as a decisive moment of the 1980 US presidential election, seeing Mr Reagan triumph over incumbent president Jimmy Carter, and Labour has sought to emulate that strategy ahead of the election expected to take place some time in 2024.

At a speech in London in January, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves asked voters if they were “better off than you were 13 years ago” when the Conservatives first took power in 2010, and it is a line she has repeated throughout the year.

The Ipsos poll suggests most people do not feel better off, and many were not reassured by November’s autumn statement.

Some 46% said they were more concerned about the state of public services following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s announcements, while 42% were more concerned about the state of Britain’s economy and 40% were concerned about the state of their personal finances, despite the cut to national insurance.

However, the poll did not provide universal good news for Labour either. Only 30% of people said they thought they would be better off if Sir Keir Starmer’s party won the next election, with 34% saying they thought they would be worse off.

Labour’s numbers have remained fairly steady throughout the year, while the number of people who think they would be better off if Mr Sunak won the next election has fallen to just 15%.

The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,016 British adults between November 24 and 27.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in