Nearly half of Britons think there should be a general election following the announcement of a new Conservative leader

Britons want the new Conservative party leader to prioritise increasing NHS capacity and growing the economy.

In addition, nearly half of Britons think there should be a general election following the announcement of the new Conservative leader.

Key findings from Kantar Public’s research, which took place between 14 and 18 July, include:

• Nearly half of Britons (47%) think that there should be a general election following the announcement of a new Conservative party leader.
• Britons think the new Conservative party leader should prioritise increasing NHS capacity (47%), growing the economy (47%) and reducing taxes (39%)
• Half of Britons (50%) think that Boris Johnson should step down immediately and let someone else take over until a new leader is appointed. 37% think he should continue as prime minister until a new Conservative leader is announced.
• Britons are increasingly pessimistic about the economy, job security and household finances compared to the start of the year:
  • Two in three Britons (67%) think the British economy is doing worse than it was a year ago (+2 Vs June 2022)1. This remains far higher than in January 2022 when only 39% thought the economy was doing worse than a year ago.
  • Almost one third (30%) of those in work believe their job is less secure than it was a year ago (+9 Vs June 2022).
  • More than half (56%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago (-1 Vs June 2022). This figure remains much higher than in January 2022 when it was 44%.

More detailed analysis on themes

1. Conservative Party Leadership election

A plurality of Britons think Boris Johnson should step down as prime minister immediately, and let someone else take over.

• Britons think the new Conservative party leader should prioritise:
  
  • Increasing NHS capacity (47%)
  • Growing the economy (47%)
  • Reducing taxes (39%)
• Only a minority think the new Conservative party leader should prioritise:
  
  • Renegotiating the Northern Ireland protocol (8%)
  • Reducing the size of the civil service (7%)
• Nearly half of Britons (47%) think that there should be a general election following the announcement of a new Conservative party leader. 26% said there should not be a general election and 27% do not know.
  • Half (51%) of those that voted Conservative in 2019 do not think that there should be a new general election. Whereas 68% of 2019 Labour voters think there should be a new election.
• Half of Britons (50%) think that Boris Johnson should step down immediately and let someone else take over until a new leader is appointed. 37% think he should continue as prime minister until a new Conservative leader is announced. 14% do not know.
  • Two thirds (65%) of those that voted Conservative in 2019 think Boris Johnson should continue until a new leader is announced. Whereas 70% of those that voted Labour in 2019 think he should step down immediately.
• When asked whether they thought the Conservative party would be better off under a different leader, one third (34%) of Britons think the party would be neither better nor worse off under a different leader. 30% thought the part would be better off under a different leader, and 19% thought the party would be worse off.
  • 2019 Conservative voters are split on this. A third (33%) think the party would be better off, 31% think the party would be worse off, and 28% think the party would do about the same with a new leader.

2. Household-level economic situation

Britons continue to be pessimistic about the economy and their household finances compared to the start of the year.

• Two in three Britons (67%) think the British economy is doing worse than it was a year ago (+2 Vs June 2022). This remains far higher than in January 20223 when only 39% thought the economy was doing worse than a year ago. One in four (25%) think it is doing much the same (-2) but only 7% think it is doing better (-1).
• 45% think that the British economy will be doing worse than it is now in a years’ time (-2 Vs June 2022), 13% think it will be doing better (-1) while 42% think it will be doing much the same as it is now (+3).
• More than half (56%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago (-1 Vs June 2022). 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, reduce income tax and introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
  • 55% think the government should remove VAT from energy bills (-5 Vs June 2022)
  • 45% think fuel duty should be cut (-6)
  • 40% think the government should introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas companies’ profits to fund support for household energy bills (-7)
  • 36% think the government should reduce income tax (+1)
  • Only 2% of Britons think the government should take no action to deal with the cost of living (nc)
• Almost one third (30%) of those in work believe their job is less secure than it was a year ago (+9 Vs June 2022). Only 11% believe their job is more secure than it was a year ago (-7), although 47% believe their job security is much the same as before (-3).

3. 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 (56%, +4 Vs June 2022).
• Investing more in NHS capacity (37%, +2).
• Growing the UK’s economy (30%, +2).
• Reducing income inequality between the richest and the poorest (20%, +2).

4. Government Performance

• Half of Britons (49%, +2 from June 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 7% are not sure (-4).
• Just under half of Britons (46%, nc vs June 2022) think the government has handled the situation in Ukraine very/fairly well. 34% (-1) think the government has handled the situations very/fairly poorly. 21% are not sure (+2).
• Three quarters of Britons (74%, -1 vs June 2022) think the government has handled the cost of living crisis very/fairly poorly. 19% (+1) think the government has handled the crisis very/fairly well. 7% are not sure (nc).
• Half of Britons (53%, +2 vs Jun 2022) think the government has handled tackling climate change very/fairly poorly. 28% (-2) think the government have handled it very/fairly well. 19% are not sure (+1).

5. Voting Intentions

• Lab 37% (+1 Vs June 2022)
• Con 33% (-1)
• L Dem 13% (nc)
• Green 7% (+2)
• SNP 4% (nc)
• Reform UK 4% (nc)
• UKIP 1% (-1)
• Plaid Cymru 1% (nc)
• Other <1% (-1)

Methodological information

A total of 1,077 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between the 14th and 18th July 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.

This Britain Barometer was issued under Verian's former global brand name: Kantar Public.