79% of UK consumers want the government to do more to bring down energy prices

In a Survation poll for the Daily Mirror, 56% of consumers agreed that they were worried about the cost of their energy bills, with 27% agreeing very strongly. Concern about the cost of energy was highest among those in the North & Scotland (65%) and in the lower DE socioeconomic band (71%), though even among the high earning AB group 43% of respondents agreed they were concerned compared to only 35% disagreeing.

With such widespread discontent over the cost of energy, it is perhaps unsurprising that people were demanding tough action. 79% of people agreed that the coalition should be doing more to tackle high energy charges, with only 5% disagreeing. In particular consumers felt that the energy watchdog, OFGEM, was failing in it’s task to hold energy providers to account for their pricing decisions, with 55% saying that it was “toothless” and “not fit for purpose”.

The Daily Mirror’s article can be found here. Full data tables available here.

Based on findings from our poll, at least 1.4 million British adults have likely taken illegal drugs this week, 3% of the adult population. Meanwhile 29% of people, equivalent to 14.5 million adults in the UK population, admitted to taking illegal drugs at some point in their lives, mostly many years in their past. By far the most common drug reported taken was cannabis, with 94% of those with a history of drug use having tried it at some point. The next most common drugs were amphetamines (39%), ecstasy (31%) and powder cocaine (30%).

When asked when they tried drugs for the first time, nearly 80% reported taking drugs before the age of 22, with most being either in their student years (18-21: 34%) or during their mid teens (15-17: 35%), though some people reported taking drugs at as young as age 11. By far the most common reason given for starting was ‘curiosity/experimentation’ (42%), followed by ‘relaxation’ (14%) and ‘made nights out more fun’ (14%). Only 11% reported ‘wanting to fit in with friends who took drugs’ as their primary reason for starting.

Nearly three quarters – 73% – of respondents who had used drugs said they had gotten them from a friend, with almost all of the remainder buying them from dealers. 35% of this group reported concerns that the drugs they took may have been contaminated by other substances. 15% of users reported suffering adverse health effects at some point in their lives as a result of drug use.

70% of the general public believe that Class A drugs should NOT be decriminalised against 22% who do, though the figures for Class B drugs are closer at 51% against and 40% in favour, with no significant difference between the views of men and women. 60% of people that had tried drugs at some point in their lives were in favour of decriminalisation of at least Class B drugs, versus 33% against.

Only 9% of people expressed any indication that they would be more likely to take drugs even if they were legally available, rising to 12% if regulated dealers were to supply drugs that were guaranteed not to be contaminated.

Despite this general opposition to decriminalisation of Class A or B drugs, the public on balance seem to believe that decriminalisation would have its benefits – 39% of the public thought crime would go down if drugs were legally available, versus 29% who thought it would go up.

The Daily Mirror’s article can be found here. Full data tables here.

On Friday, we asked a demographically representative group of 1003 members of the public how likely it was that they would watch the show tonight, and then asked those who stated “Very likely” and “Quite Likely” whom they would like to win. Among these two groups (449 of 1003) the answers were as follows:

However, when isolating those who said they were “very likely” to watch the show, the top 4 changed at the top, with Bradley Wiggins in first position with 26% from Jessica Ennis with 18% , Mo Farah with 14% and Andy Murray with 13%.

Further complicating predicting tonight’s show is that the voting format has changed. In previous years, voting lines were open throughout the show during the contestant’s video items. This year, in an (naive) effort to be fair, voting lines will only be open after all the contestant video has been shown. As we know from years of television voting shows such as The X Factor, statistically, a “late draw” makes a contestant perform better in the vote.  A contestant on in the first part of the show can typically be “forgotten” and compounding that, some viewers may not tune in until later in the show, a contestant has the best chance of being seen by the most potential voters the closer he or she is to the ‘phone lines opening for voting.

So in summary, watch out tonight for the order the contestant appear. A favourite in an earlier slot may suffer and of course a favourite appearing in a late position near to voting lines opening may well take the crown this year.

The data table for Sports Personality can be viewed here:

Capping child benefit at 2-3 children was viewed very positively, with 75% of people considering that it was selfish to have large families if people were on benefits.

More people agreed than disagreed that these ideas represented a return to the ‘nasty party (47% to 34%), although on balance people said they “generally approved” of David Cameron’s proposals – 45% (vs 43% not generally approving).

Party Leader Comparisons

Cameron’s potential future policies on welfare also fared slightly better than those of other party leaders. Cameron is also much more apparently attuned with the public in areas such as immigration,

More worrying from the Prime Minister is that leader of the opposition, Ed Miliband’s enjoys a perceived policy lead on a number of other key issues, including a significant lead on policy towards the Banking Industry, Economic policy and Tax. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls also leads George Osborne on economic trust (27% to 27%) although within the margin of error, and almost half unable to choose unable to choose between them.

The LIBOR Fixing Revelations – General Public Hostile To Barclays as the story breaks;

On LIBOR rate fixing potentially having a direct consequence on personal and corporate lending levels, a clear majority -71% (vs 16% against) thought Bob Diamond should resign, that the Directors responsible should face prosecution (89% vs 5% disagreeing) and 49% saying they would “consider” closing their accounts (vs 40% that would not).

Full data tables for the full survey are now available to be viewed here;

With England’s opening game of the Euro 2012 competition, against France, due to kick off this evening, Survation can announce the results of our latest poll, which found support for referees taking a strong line against racism on the pitch.

60% of those surveyed agreed that ‘if England players are racially abused in the Euro soccer championship’ the referee should ‘halt the game and lead the players off the pitch’, while 21% disagreed and 19% ticked ‘don’t know’.

With British government ministers set to boycott England group matches in Ukraine in protest at the imprisonment of Ukraine’s Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, we asked respondents whether they should also ‘refuse to go to matches in Ukraine if England qualify for the FINAL stages’. On this point, opinion was more divided.

50% of those surveyed agreed that government ministers should also refuse to go to matches in Ukraine even if England get through to the finals, while 23% disagreed and 27% said ‘don’t know’.

by Charlotte Jee

Full data tables can be viewed here.

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Survey Overview

The current Monarch, Elizabeth II, is considered to be the greatest monarch in British history, according to a recent poll by Survation. When asked ‘Who do you consider to be the greatest Monarch in English/British history’, 27% of respondents said Queen Elizabeth II, and there was a strong showing for other female Monarchs, with 17% of those surveyed choosing Queen Victoria and 17% opting for Queen Elizabeth I. King Henry VIII trailed behind, gaining just 4% of the vote.

However, Prince William managed to score a victory among the present royal family, with 21% of respondents saying that he is their ‘favourite current member of the royal family’, compared to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry, who gained 16% apiece. Prince Charles gained a mere 2% of the vote. Perhaps the choice was simply too difficult to make, however, as 31% of those surveyed agreed with the statement: ‘I don’t have a favourite member of the royal family’.

Support for the Monarchy as an institution remains high, with 71% of respondents agreeing that ‘the UK should keep a Monarch as head of state’ and a small- but significant- minority of 21% in agreement with the statement: ‘the UK should abolish the Monarchy and become a Republic’.

Interestingly, despite the fact that in accordance with hereditary rules, Prince Charles is currently in line to become the next Monarch, opinion is fairly evenly split over whether he or Prince William should become King after the death of the present Queen, with 41% opting for the current heir Prince Charles but 39% choosing his son, Prince William.

It seems Queen Elizabeth II’s popularity far outstretches that of our elected politicians, with 72% saying that she does the ‘does the best job at representing the UK abroad’ and a mere 6% choosing Foreign Secretary William Hague while 5% selected Prime Minister David Cameron. In continuation with that theme, our poll found a +64% approval rating for the Queen compared to -29% for David Cameron, -25% for Ed Miliband and -43% for Nick Clegg.

The majority of those surveyed were getting wholeheartedly into the festive spirit- with 67% agreeing with the statement: ‘national celebrations in times of economic hardship are important to lift people’s spirits and bring us together’. In comparison, 23% of respondents agreed with the statement: ‘national celebrations in times of economic hardship are a waste of money that should be better spent elsewhere’.

Finally- returning to the rather gloomier topic of the economy, Ed Balls at least has something to be cheerful about. When asked ‘who do you trust most on the economy’, 34% of those surveyed chose David Cameron, with Ed Miliband close behind on 29%. More than a third – 37% – of respondents replied ‘don’t know’.

Opinion was even tighter when the same question was posed with the Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor going head to head, but Labour just managed to gain an advantage. 28% of those surveyed said that they trusted Ed Balls most on the economy, while just over a quarter- 26%- gave their vote of confidence to George Osborne. A huge 46% of respondents said ‘don’t know’.

By Charlotte Jee

Full data tables are available here;

Sign-up to the Survation Consumer Panel and share your views with the nation here;

Follow us on twitter to see new polls as they break here and here.

Survation is a member of The British Polling Council and abide by its rules

http://www.britishpollingcouncil.org

Survation Ltd Registered in England & Wales Number 07143509

Survation correctly predicted the outcome of Saturday night’s final of Britain’s Got Talent, with our poll suggesting that dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey would come out on top, rather than the bookies favourite, opera duo Jonathan and Charlotte. We also accurately predicted that The Loveable Rogues would come in third place.

The margin of error for a poll of this size is +/- 4% (meaning we can be 95% confident that contestant popularity over the fieldwork times – May 8-12th is no more incorrect for each contestant than 4%).  Actual future results may vary due to important factors such as performance on the night, the running order and the existence of a “to be announced” wildcard entrant from the previous semi finals.

Results are as follows;

Fieldwork Dates: 8th – 12th of May

Survation interviewed 507 respondents online.

Data were weighted by age, gender, region and likelihood to vote.

Current Order Of Popularity (Pre -Finals Show)
1)Ashleigh & Pudsey
2)Jonathan & Charlotte
3)Loveable Rogues
4)Only Boys Aloud
5)Ryan O’Shaughnesy
6)Molly Rainford
7)Sam Kelly
8)Nu Sxool
9)Kai & Natalia
10Aquabatique

Thank you for your participation.

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Full data tables for this survey can be viewed here;

• Londoners’ opinion is polarised over the Olympics
• Scots least looking forward to the Olympics
• Younger people polarised with stronger views either way – but a large proportion (26.5%) expressing negative views – a failure to engage the young from disadvantaged families.
• Older people more likely to be indifferent

Headline Findings

When asked about their current feelings towards the London Olympic Games this Summer, just over half (51.4%) of those surveyed were positive, with 9.3% saying that they are ‘very excited’, 10.6% saying that they are ‘excited’ and 31.5% saying that they are ‘generally looking forward’. 30.4% of respondents said that they are ‘indifferent’ about the 2012 Olympic Games. 5.5% said that they are ‘not looking forward’ to it while 11.6% said that they are ‘dreading the whole thing’ – so 17.1% of people expressed negative views.  Positive 51.4%, Negative 17.1, Indifferent 30.4 (1.1% of people said they didn’t know.

Region

Respondents living in the East Midlands are the most enthusiastic about the Olympics overall- with 60.8% of those surveyed from that region expressing positive sentiments. Londoners were are also positive (58.9%), (but also expressed marked negative views also) as were people living in the North East (56.5%), however respondents from the North East were more likely to say they are ‘very excited’ (19.6%) than those living in any other region- including London (9.3%).

On the other hand, only 38.6% of Scottish respondents expressed positive feelings towards the upcoming Olympics, with not one person in Scotland describing themselves as ‘very excited’. In addition, Scots were most likely to describe themselves as ‘not looking forward’ to the Olympics (9.1%)  or ‘dreading the whole thing’ (12.5%) (21.6% in total – the highest overall region expressing negative sentiment, with Londoners coming in a close second (20.2%), followed by respondents living in the South East (19.1%).

Age

Those aged between 25 and 34 were the most positive age group regarding the London Olympics, with 58.3% of respondents in that age bracket expressing positive feelings, and those aged between 35 and 44 following close behind at 57.1%.

Opinion among young people was notably polarised. They were most  likely to feel “excited” about the Olympics, with 42.6% of 18 to 24 year olds responding positively and 26.5% responding negatively, with the second most ‘negative’ age group (45 to 54 year olds) trailing behind at 19%.

Social Grade

Regarding social category, those in the ‘DE’ bracket were significantly less likely to feel positive than those in other groups (37.1% compared to 58.3% of those in the ‘C2’ bracket, 56.4% of those in the ‘C1’ category and 55.4% of those designated as ‘AB’). Respondents categorised as ‘DE’ were also more likely to express outright negativity towards the Olympics (22.5% versus 16.1% of ‘AB’ respondents, 15.2% of those in the ‘C1’ bracket and 14.5% of those designated as ‘C2’). ‘DE’ respondents also had a tendency towards indifference (38.2%) compared to other social categories (28.2% for ‘AB’, 27.6% for ‘C1’ and 26.9% for ‘C2’).

By Charlotte Jee

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LAB 37% +2  CON 30% (No Change) LD 12.5% (+1.5) UKIP 9% (-2) AP 12% (NC)

Local Election Overall Voting Intention 2012

LAB 32 CON 26 LD 15 GRE 8 UKIP 7 BNP 3 SNP 3 PC 1 OTH 6

Applying the local poll to the national local council equivalent vote “last time” – (2008) in a fairly simplistic fashion for the 3 main parties contesting and contending for most council elections we get:

LAB +8  CON -17 LD – 9

Implied CON to LAB swing is 12.5%

Implied CON to LD swing is 4%

Implied LD to LAB swing is 8.5%

That would see a huge (800-1000 maybe) Labour gain, mostly at the expense of the Tories but also the Lib Dems.

Regarding turnout, 49% say they are an “8, 9 or 10” where 10 is absolutely certain to vote.

 Key Findings

• When asked which of the three main parties they trust most to protect local services in their area, 47% of respondents chose Labour while 30% opted for the Conservatives and 24% said the Lib Dems.

• Regarding which of the three main parties they trust most to protect the NHS, 53% of those surveyed said Labour while 27% chose the Conservatives and 21% opted for the Lib Dems.

•  54% of respondents have been personally affected by cuts to public services in their area (14% significantly, 40% somewhat) while 41% have not. Excluding don’t knows, 57% have been affected while 43% have not.

•  When asked whether they are better or worse off than they were two years ago, 35% of those polled reported no change, while 53% of people say they are worse off. Only 11% say they are better off.

Respondents were posed the question: ‘relative to this time of austerity and the need to “tighten our belts” to what extent do you believe that the Government is personally committed to the statement that “we’re all in this together”?’

• Of those who expressed an opinion as to whether they believed the government’s personal commitment (removing neither believe nor disbelieve, and don’t know) 78% of people do not believe the government is personally committed to the statement.

Closest to your opinion?

Respondents were then asked: which of the following statements is closest to your opinion? The results are below.

The cuts are impacting everyone equally – 20%

The cuts are having a greater impact on poorer people – 80%

 I trust Chancellor George Osborne with the nation’s finances – 25%

I do not trust Chancellor George Osborne with the nation’s finances – 75%

The Coalition government are destroying the National Health Service – 64%

The Coalition government are not destroying the National Health Service – 36%

The Coalition Government understands how hard life is for many pensioners – 25%

The Coalition Government do not understand how hard life is for many pensioners – 75%

 Nick Clegg should lead his party out of the Conservative-led coalition government immediately – 55%*

Nick Clegg should NOT lead his party out of the Conservative-led coalition government immediately – 45%

*Note – 64% of Lib Dem 2010 voters believe Nick Clegg should lead his party out of the Conservative-led coalition government immediately

Full data tables are available here.

We were reminded of the policy friction between “DC and DC” -that’s back-bench Conservative MP for Clacton Douglas Carswell and the Prime Minister David Cameron very openly at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions. You can view the rather dismissive response Cameron gave to his party colleague here. Today’s Mail on Sunday article can be read here;

So what are these policy differences and what do the general public think about them if forced to choose the policy closest to their own view?

Survation were engaged by the Mail On Sunday to put them to a “blind” comparative test with the respondent not knowing whether the policy was that of Cameron/The Government or that of Douglas Carswell.

While we would accept that is it difficult to refine one policy vs another in a simple and unbiased way, in this DC vs DC policy bake-off – who came off best?

Full data tables are available here;

Data Weighting: Data were weighted to the profile of all adults aged
18+. Data were weighted by sex, age, socio-economic group, and region.

Targets for the weighted data were derived from the National Readership Survey,a random probability survey comprising 36,000 random face-to-face interviews conducted annually.

Data were weighted by Pamela Varley and analysed and presented by Patrick Briône and Charlotte Jee of Survation.

For further information please contact;

Damian Lyons Lowe
Chief Executive
Survation Ltd
damian.lyonslowe@survation.com