'Our politicians are not fit for purpose': Shropshire Star election survey results revealed
Shropshire Star readers have delivered a damning verdict on the efforts of politicians in this country – with just two per cent saying they are doing a good job.
It came in a new Star survey to gauge the views of people in the region in the early stages of a general election that few people wanted.
The poll of more than 1,600 readers saw Boris Johnson overwhelmingly backed to return to Number 10, with 49 per cent of people saying he was most fit to be Prime Minister, ahead of Jeremy Corbyn (29 per cent) and Jo Swinson (22 per cent).
The general election campaign has finally sprung into life over the past few days after a start that had largely been as dull as ditch-water.
Following a televised leaders’ debate that was as drab and listless as everyone expected it would be, the Labour manifesto launch in the West Midlands provided a much needed spark.
For some it is a manifesto of hope, while others see it as a blueprint for disaster that can not possibly be delivered without ramping up taxes on the very people Mr Corbyn says he is determined to help.
Opinion:
The release of a manifesto has historically been a key turning point in election campaigns, as Theresa May found to her cost in 2017.
It is a view that has been backed by the results of our survey, which saw 72 per cent say manifestos were an important factor when they were deciding who to vote for.
Other parties have also issued their declarations.
Brexit, Brexit, Brexit
The Lib Dems want to stop Brexit so much that the words appear in big capital letters on the front of their manifesto.
Meanwhile Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has promised a “political revolution” underpinned by a clean break from all EU institutions.
The Tory manifesto, out over the weekend, inevitably concentrates to a great degree on its “get Brexit done” message.
In our survey Brexit was declared as the most important issue of the election (49 per cent), ahead of the NHS, the economy and crime.
And there was short shrift given to Mr Corbyn’s stance of thrashing out a new deal with the EU before putting it to the people in another referendum.
The largest proportion of people (41 per cent) said they disagreed with it, while there were only fractionally fewer people who did not understand it (28 per cent) than there were who backed it (31 per cent).
Incredibly the result of the number of people who would like to see a second referendum on any Brexit deal exactly mirrors the split in the original poll – 52 per cent against, and 48 per cent for.
Shropshire voters were equally scathing when it came to the Tories’ handling of Brexit, with just 34 per cent of people saying that Mr Johnson had done a good job in his handling of the issue since he took over from Theresa May and 49 per cent thinking the Conservative supremo has ‘made a mess of it’.
The PM has repeatedly said that he did everything in his power to make good on his ‘do or die’ pledge to take Britain out of the EU on October 31, claiming that his efforts were hampered at every turn by Remainer MPs in Parliament.
The figures show that the majority do not believe him.
A majority of readers – 62 per cent compared to 38 per cent – said they do not believe that Brexit will be sorted out early next year.
More than four in five people said they had already decided which way they will vote on December 12, while interestingly, one third of those who took part said they were considering voting for a different party than they did in the 2017 poll.
The poll shows how the months of Brexit uncertainty have had an effect. The majority of people said they were pessimistic about the future of Britain.
