Two-thirds of the British public say they have little or no faith in George Osborne’s ability to run the economy, according to a new poll
Two-thirds of the British public say they have little faith in chancellor George Osborne's ability to run the economy, according to a new poll.
Figures from polling agency BMG show that 66 per say they have “almost no” or “only a little” faith in the chancellor, while 42 per cent say they don’t know enough about his opposite number, shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
In a survey of 1,606 Britons taken in late May, before Osborne’s recent intervention threatening a dramatic new budget in the case of Brexit, the firm also found that the chancellor’s poor ratings were shared across both Remain and Leave voters, with 64 per cent of the former and 74 per cent of the latter expressing little or no faith.
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With undecided voters, excluding those who said they didn't know, 84.6 per cent said the same.
The poll also found that those who back Osborne’s approach to welfare reform were more likely to express faith in the chancellor’s abilities.
“This suggests that if Osborne is to better engage and ‘win-over’ voters, he should be talking more about welfare restrictions, particularly with regard to access by EU migrants, as well as the welfare system more widely,” BMG said.
It comes as polling continues to show further bad news for Osborne and other remain camaigners.
An Ipsos Mori poll published earlier put the Leave campaign ahead by six points, equivalent to a six-point swing in just one week, since the last telephone survey was conducted.