by The jury is out on Chancellor Rachel Reeves, according to a new poll after she scrapped spending to plug what she claimed was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
An Ipsos survey for The Standard revealed that four out of ten Britons said they “don’t know” whether they are happy or unhappy with the way she is doing her job as chancellor.
The figure is 41 per cent higher than for Chancellors since 2016 including George Osborne, Philip Hammond, Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jeremy Hunt.
Thirty-four per cent say they are satisfied with Ms Reeves’ tenure at the Treasury so far and 25 per cent are dissatisfied.
This is better than Mr Kwarteng’s dismal rating of 12 per cent satisfied and 65 per cent dissatisfied in October 2022, and also for Mr Hunt who never had positive scores, but not as good as the Mr. Sunak who initially had much higher satisfaction figures. of his time at the Treasury.
The results come as Ms Reeves flew to New York and Toronto in Canada to try to boost business for the UK as the new Government seeks to boost economic growth to fund better public services.
Ms Reeves claims she inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, an allegation strongly denied by her predecessor, Mr Hunt.
Ahead of the July 4 general election, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned of a “conspiracy of silence” between the main political parties over the poor state of public finances and that whoever wins would require tax increases, cuts in public spending or more borrowing.
They recently said that part of the gap in public finances was not known before the election but other aspects of it were.
The new chancellor has announced cuts in spending on roads, rail and hospitals, to limit winter fuel payments to pensioners on benefits, tax rises and tougher decisions on welfare and public spending in the Budget Autumn.
The poll, fielded before the riots, also showed Sir Keir Starmer’s net satisfaction rating jumping from -19 as Opposition Leader to +7 as Prime Minister.
Thirty-seven percent say they are satisfied with his performance, and 30 percent are dissatisfied, compared to before the July 4 election when the figures were respectively 33 percent and 52 percent in June.
Mr Sunak’s net satisfaction ratings have also risen from -55 before the election to -35 now, as has Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey from minus five to +10.
Forty-eight percent say they are dissatisfied with the new Government, and 27 percent satisfied, a net score of -21, compared to -71 in June for Mr. Sunak’s administration.
However, a majority (52 per cent) think that the Labor government’s policies will improve public services in the long term, the highest score since the Blair government in June 2001, with 39 per cent disagreeing.
Forty-eight per cent expect the Government’s policies to boost the economy in the long term, with 43 per cent disagreeing, the most optimistic since November 2015, the year before the Brexit referendum.
Three quarters (77 per cent) of Britons say public services have improved over the past five years, compared to 63 per cent in March 2017, 42 per cent in September 2015 and 40 per cent in November 2012.
Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: “While the public is more optimistic about various aspects of British life than before the General Election, many people are still undecided about Keir Starmer as Prime Minister and Rachel Reeves as Chancellor.
“Perhaps it is not surprising since the new government is only a month old.
“Ultimately a Labor government is likely to be judged on how it deals with emerging crises and whether it can deliver on the long-term priorities of the voters who put it in office, namely the cost of living and improve public services. .”
There is still gloom over when the NHS will improve, with 34 per cent expecting this to happen in the next few years, and 42 per cent not, although this was more optimistic than under the Tories last November when the figures were 16 percent and 64 percent respectively.
Half of Britons (52 per cent) think the cost of living crisis will get worse in the coming years, double the 24 per cent who expect it to ease.
However, the public are more hopeful that things will improve rather than deteriorate in the skills of Britain’s workforce (33 per cent better/28 per cent worse), public transport (32 per cent/24 per cent) and opportunities for young people (37 percent). percent/33 percent).
The public is divided over whether the quality of education will improve (30 per cent/29 per cent) although they are more optimistic than under the Conservatives in November (15 per cent/44 per cent rather).
But only 17 per cent expect the way their area is policed to improve in the next few years (+7 from November), while 32 per cent think it will get worse (-10 from nine months ago).
Twenty-seven percent believe that the quality of the environment will improve, 36 percent taking the opposite view, giving a new score of -9, compared to -30 in November.
* Ipsos interviewed 1,003 adults by telephone across Britain between 24 and 30 July. Data is weighted.
