Seven in ten Britons think the government should take action now to tackle the rising cost of living

The Britain Barometer is our regular polling of public opinion in Britain.  We cover a range of topics including political views and voting intentions, the economy, government policies and emerging issues important to the British public.

25 August 2022, London – Kantar Public’s latest barometer reveals that a majority of Britons want the government to introduce measures to tackle the rising cost of living now, rather than wait until a new prime minister is in place. A large majority of Britons would support the government taking a wide range of measures including removing VAT from energy bills, improving household energy efficiency and increasing the energy discount. In addition, half of Briton’s don’t know who they would prefer to be the new leader of the Conservative party and prime minister.

Key findings from Kantar Public’s research, which took place between 18 and 22 August, include:

• 70% of Britons think the government should introduce measures now to ease the cost of living, while 21% think the government should wait until a new prime minister is in office. 9% don’t know.
• A large majority of Britons would support the government taking a range of measures to tackle rising energy prices including:
  • Removing VAT from energy bills (84% strongly/slightly support)
  • Taking measures to improve household energy efficiency (82% strongly/slightly support)
  • Increasing the £400 energy discount (81% strongly/slightly support)
• Half of Britons (51%, +2 Vs 4th August) don’t know who they would prefer to be the new leader of the Conservative party and prime minister. 26% of Britons would prefer Rishi Sunak over Liz Truss (nc), while 24% would prefer Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak (-1).
  • 40% of those that voted Conservative in 2019 would prefer Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak (-5), while a third (32%) would prefer Rishi Sunak (nc). 29% don’t know who they would prefer (+6).
• Three quarters of Britons (76%) think the British economy is doing worse than it was a year ago (+7 Vs 4th August 2022). This is the highest figure we have recorded since January 2021.

More detailed analysis on themes

1. Rising energy prices

• 70% of Britons think the government should introduce measures now to ease the cost of living, while 21% think the government should wait until a new prime minister is in office. 9% don’t know.
• There is broad support for the government to take a range of actions to tackle rising energy prices:

• Over half of Britons (53%) think that support for rising energy prices should be targeted towards households on low incomes. A third (35%) who think it should be provided to everyone regardless of income. Only 4% think the government should not provide support.
• 85% of Britons think the government has handled the rising cost of energy very/fairly poorly. 11% think the government have handled it very/fairly well. Only 5% are not sure.

2. Conservative Party Leadership

• Half of Britons (51%, +2 Vs 4th August) don’t know who they would prefer to be the new leader of the Conservative party and prime minister. 26% of Britons would prefer Rishi Sunak over Liz Truss (nc), while 24% would prefer Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak (-1).
  • 40% of those that voted Conservative in 2019 would prefer Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak (-5), while a third (32%) would prefer Rishi Sunak (nc). 29% don’t know who they would prefer (+6).
  • Among 2019 Labour voters, Rishi Sunak (28%, -2) is more popular than Liz Truss (18%, -5), although over half do not know (55%, +8).
• Britons think the new Conservative party leader should prioritise:
  • Reducing the cost of living for households (68%)
  • Increasing NHS capacity (44%)
  • Growing the economy (31%)
  • Reducing taxes (25%)
• Only a minority think the new Conservative party leader should prioritise:
  • Renegotiating the Northern Ireland protocol (4%)
  • Reducing the size of the civil service (6%)
• Over half of Britons (52%) think that there should be a general election following the announcement of a new Conservative party leader (-2 vs 4th August).
  • Nearly half (46%) of those that voted Conservative in 2019 do not think that there should be a new general election (-4). Whereas 78% of 2019 Labour voters think there should be a new general election (nc).

3. Household-level economic situation

Britons are increasingly pessimistic about the economy, with over half thinking the British economy will be doing worse than in a years’ time.

• Three quarters of Britons (76%) think the British economy is doing worse than it was a year ago (+7 Vs 4th August 2022). This is the highest figure we have recorded since the previous high of 76% in January 2021. 19% think it is doing much the same (-4) but only 5% think it is doing better (-3).
• Over half of Britons (55%) think that the British economy will be doing worse than it is now in a years’ time (+8 Vs 4th August 2022). This is the highest figure we have recorded since we began asking this question in 2011.
• Six in ten (62%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago nc Vs 4th August). This figure remains much higher than in January 2022 when it was 44%.
• To help deal with increases to the cost of living, Britons think the government should reduce VAT on energy bills, introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas companies and cut fuel duty.
  • 63% think the government should remove VAT from energy bills (+3 Vs 4th August 2022)
  • 54% think the government should introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas companies’ profits to fund support for household energy bills (+5)
  • 44% think fuel duty should be cut (-7)
  • 35% think the government should reduce income tax (-4)
  • Only 1% of Britons think the government should take no action to deal with the cost of living (-1)
• A quarter (24%) of those in work believe their job is less secure than it was a year ago (+2 Vs 4th August 2022). 16% believe their job is more secure than it was a year ago (+1), although 53% believe their job security is much the same as before (nc).

4. Policy Priorities

When asked about the three most important priorities for the UK government if it is to improve public life in the UK, Britons cite the following:

• Reducing the cost of living (55%, +1 Vs 4th August 2022).
• Investing more in NHS capacity (37%, -1).
• Ensuring there won’t be energy shortages in the winter (27%)

5. Government Performance

• Half of Britons (50%, -1 Vs 4th August 2022) think the government has handled the COVID-19 pandemic very/fairly well. 44% (+1) think the government has handled the pandemic very/fairly poorly. Only 6% are not sure (nc).
• Half of Britons (45%, -6 Vs 4th August 2022) think the government has handled the situation in Ukraine very/fairly well. 37% (+6) think the government has handled the situation very/fairly poorly. 18% are not sure (nc).
• More than three quarters of Britons (80%, -1 Vs 4th August 2022) think the government has handled the cost of living crisis very/fairly poorly. 15% (+2) think the government has handled the crisis very/fairly well. 4% are not sure (-1).
• 59% of Britons (+4 Vs 4th August 2022) think the government has handled tackling climate change very/fairly poorly. 25% (-4) think the government have handled it very/fairly well. 16% are not sure (nc).
• 59% of Britons (+1 Vs 4th August 2022) think the government has handled Brexit very/fairly poorly. 31% (+2) think the government have handled it very/fairly well. 10% are not sure (-3).
• 85% of Britons think the government has handled the rising cost of energy very/fairly poorly. 11% think the government have handled it very/fairly well. Only 5% are not sure.

6. Voting Intentions

• Lab 40% (+4 Vs 4th August 2022)
• Con 33% (+1)
• L Dem 14% (+1)
• Green 6% (-2)
• SNP 4% (-2)
• Reform UK 2% (-2)
• UKIP <1% (-1)
• Plaid Cymru 1% (+1)
• Other 1% (nc)
  
  

Methodological information

A total of 1,106 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between the 18th and 22nd August 2022. All interviews were conducted online using the Kantar Research Express. The Kantar online access panel was the main sample source.

The data was weighted to match population totals for age, gender, 2019 General Election voting patterns, 2016 EU referendum voting patterns, education, region, and likelihood to vote in the next General Election. Any use of this research must cite Kantar Public as the source.

We changed the approached used to generate the weighting targets for the 2019 General election in our poll published 4th August. We have included further detail of this change in the method note which can be found alongside the data tables.

This Britain Barometer was issued under our former global brand name: Kantar Public.