Tracking public opinion on the cuts
In my lengthy post on the best strategy for the anti-cuts campaign, I emphasised that we did not start with majority support and needed to make changing minds the key objective.
I’ve just discovered that YouGov have been tracking some good questions in a number of polls since the election.
I’ve put three of these onto a graph, so we can track the trend.
Firstly they ask whether the cuts are “good or bad for the economy”. I’ve taken the percentage saying bad away from the percentage saying good to give a net “good for the economy” figure.
Secondly they ask whether the cuts are being done fairly or unfairly – this gives me a net “fairly” measure.
Thirdly they ask whether the cuts are having an impact, or not having an impact, on your own life. This gives me a net “personal impact” measure.
As can be seen (and you can click on the graph for a bigger image), there was a slow gradual shift away from the government after the emergency budget, but the Conservative Party conference seems to have been good for the coalition, and they have quickly recoved from their least favourable results that coincide with the TUC Congress.
Whether this is correlation, causality or coincidence I’ll leave others to judge.
Tweets that mention Tracking public opinion on the cuts | ToUChstone blog: A public policy blog from the TUC — Topsy.com
Oct 11th 2010, 7:15 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ToUChstone blog, Nigel Stanley. Nigel Stanley said: A graph of mine RT @touchstoneblog: Tracking public opinion on the cuts http://bit.ly/bMtBb8 […]
How we can create an “All Together Movement for Change” | STRONGER UNIONS
Oct 17th 2010, 8:06 pm
[…] my colleague at the TUC Nigel Stanley makes clear in his blog post over at STRONGER UNIONS’ sister blog Touchstone, public opinion on the cuts […]