Britons See EU Membership Row as Distraction from Economic Crisis
The Conservative Party has gained three points since mid-January, while support for Labour has dropped by the same margin.
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(01/27/13) -
Public support for the Conservative Party increased last week following David Cameron’s speech on the European Union (EU), a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll conducted for the Sunday Express has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample of 2,004 British adults, 39 per cent of decided voters and leaners (-3 since mid-January) would support the Labour candidate in their constituency if a General Election took place tomorrow.
The governing Tories are second with 30 per cent (+3), followed by the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) with 12 per cent (+1) and the Liberal Democrats with 10 per cent (=).
European Union
Across Britain, 48 per cent of respondents say they do not have a specific party leader they trust most on Europe. Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron is the top choice for 22 per cent, followed by Labour’s Ed Miliband with 15 per cent, UKIP’s Nigel Farage with 11 per cent and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg with four per cent.
In his speech, Prime Minister Cameron said that, if his party wins the 2015 General Election, he would renegotiate Britain’s EU membership terms and put them to a referendum in 2017. If David Cameron succeeds in getting major powers back from the EU before 2017, respondents are evenly divided on how they would vote, with 34 per cent saying they would be in favour of the UK remaining a member of the EU, and 34 per cent voting against membership.
One third of respondents (33%) believe Britain will not be an EU member in 10 years, including 36 per cent of respondents aged 55 and over. In addition, three-in-five Britons (63%) deem the European issue “a distraction from the economic crisis facing Britain”, and a majority (55%) believe the Labour Party should now commit to an in/out referendum in its next manifesto.
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Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From January 24 to January 25, 2013, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,004 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
