Voters expect Tory government to raise taxes |

Thursday 1st October 2009 | 16:01

Voters expect Tory government to raise taxes

A clear majority of voters would expect the Tories to raise taxes as well as cut spending should they gain power at the next election.

A majority of the public anticipate that a Conservative government would raise taxes as well as make significant cuts to public spending, according to a new PoliticsHome poll.

1,151 voters were asked whether they thought the Conservative party would cut or raise taxes if they won the next election.

Fifty nine per cent of people expected the Tories to raise taxes, with almost a quarter (twenty four per cent) thinking that they would ‘significantly’ raise taxes.

It comes as less of a surprise to discover that there is a widespread expectation that the party would cut spending: eighty eight per cent think that a Tory government would cut spending in real terms, with fully two thirds of the panel anticipating ‘significant cuts’.

The Conservatives have so far highlighted the need for cuts, but have been less willing to talk about tax rises.

Have the Tories really changed?

Cameron has made it a central part of his strategy to show the public that the Conservative party has ‘modernised’, while Labour have at times attempted to hark back to memories of high unemployment under the last Conservative administration.

The proportion of people (fifty two per cent) with a negative perception of the last Tory administration is considerably larger than the proportion with a positive perception (thirty six per cent).

Opinion was split along predictably partisan lines, but non-aligned voters tended to take a more negative view.

Opinion is also divided on the question of whether the Conservative party has changed since 1997.

Of those who think the party has changed, more people think the party has changed for the better than for the worse, but almost half the public (forty six per cent) think that it has not changed significantly.

A majority of Conservative supporters (sixty nine per cent) think that the party has changed for the better – but seventy two per cent of Labour supporters are not convinced that it has changed significantly.

PoliticsHome interviewed 1,151 adults between 30 September and 1 October 2009. Results are weighted by party ID to reflect the UK at large.

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