With approval of the Government’s management of the vaccine rollout standing at 72%, the Tories have extended their lead over Labour up to nine points, according to new polling by Opinium. This is the party’s largest lead since May last year. Approval of the Government’s handling of Covid overall is also net positive for the first time since May (at 44%), and over half of those polled believe that Britain is unlocking at about the right pace.
Conservative Party voters were also shown to be the most supportive of vaccine passports, both for domestic and international use. Here are the key findings.
The Conservatives expand their lead to nine points, their largest lead since May last year, according to Opinium’s latest poll. The Conservatives currently have 45% of the vote (+4 from two weeks ago), while Labour have 36% (-1), Lib Dems have 6% and the Greens 4%. …
Overall approval of the Government’s handling of the pandemic is net positive for the first time since May last year. This rise coincides with the vaccine rollout in February, and 44% now approve of the Tories’ handling and 36% disapprove.
Unsurprisingly, approval for handling of the vaccine rollout remains strong with 72% approving and only 8% disapproving. This is high even among Labour voters (71%) and SNP voters (57%). …
As lockdown measures continue to ease next week, over half (54%) think the roadmap is easing is at about the right pace, up slightly from 47% two weeks ago. Those thinking it was moving “too quickly” has dropped from 31% to 27% and “too slowly” from 12% to 10%.
The public is, on balance, supportive of the idea of vaccine passports, with 57% supporting this for entering busy venues within the UK and over two thirds (68%) for international travel. In both cases, the Conservative voters are the most supportive (70% for domestic and 83% for international) and Labour voters are more mixed (57% for domestic and 69% for international).
Adam Drummond, the Head of Political Polling at Opinium, has pinned the extension of the Conservative’s lead over Labour on the Government’s handling of the vaccine rollout.
The vaccine bounce continues to yield political benefits for the Government with their strongest figures for handling the pandemic since they first became negative last May. In terms of voting intention the figures bounce around due to statistical noise but there is a consistent Conservative lead in the high single digits.
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