Labour retains a narrow lead over Conservatives on a
range of immigration issues – but majority do not trust them
either.
Only one in five (19%) think is doing a good as Prime
Minister, similar levels to (18%) after the mini-Budget.
New polling from Ipsos, conducted between 19-22 January, shows
almost seven in ten (69%) do not trust the Conservatives very
much or at all to handle the issue of migrants crossing the
channel. Only one in four (24%) say they trust them ‘a great
deal’ or ‘a fair amount’..
Similar levels lack trust in the Conservatives ability to make it
harder to enter the country illegally (64%) or to have the right
policies towards asylum seekers (65%) or on immigration (66%)
more generally. Fewer than three in ten trust them on each of
these issues (28%, 27%, 27% respectively). These figures are
similar to when the public were last asked the same questions in
May 2023.
As shown below, the Labour party has a slight lead over the
Conservatives on most of these issues (apart from making it
harder to enter the country illegally where the Conservatives are
narrowly ahead). However, across issues, the majority say they do
trust Keir Starmer’s party either.
This comes as only one in five (19%) say has done a good job as Prime
Minister, compared to half say bad job (51%). These figures are
similar to those received in the days after delivering her mini budget
(18% good job vs. 50% bad job in September 2022).
Only 13% say that James Cleverley has been doing a good job as
Home Secretary, compared to two in five saying he is doing a bad
job (39%).
Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said of the
findings: “Rishi Sunak has put immigration at the
centre of the Conservative’s re-election strategy, promising to
“stop the boats”. These figures suggest the public are yet to be
convinced that his strategy is working. Even with the Rwanda Bill
making it to the House of Lords, the majority still think his
Government is doing a bad job in passing new laws to stop small
boats. Nevertheless, almost seven in ten still lack trust in the
Conservatives to handle Channel crossings overall.”
Notes to Editor
-
Full findings
- Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,047
adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the
online Omnibus 19-22 January 2024. Data has been weighted to the
known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a
wide range of potential sources of error.
