Exclusive: Voters' Trust In Labour To Run The Economy Plummets Amid Budget Backlash

Labour’s lead over the Tories on which party is best placed to run the economy has plummeted since the election, HuffPost UK can reveal.

Polling by Savanta shows that just 38% of the public now back Labour over the Conservatives, down from 50% in July.

At the same time, the proportion of the public who prefer the Tories has gone up from 28% to 33%. 

That means Labour’s lead has fallen from 22 points to five points in just four months.

The poll also found that Labour’s lead over the Tories on dealing with the cost of living has gone from 28 points to nine points over the same period, while the party’s lead on taxation has fallen from 16 points to just two points.

The findings are another blow for chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has come under fire over a series of controversial decisions she has taken since the election.

They include taking the winter fuel payment off 10 million pensioners, imposing inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million and hiking the rate of National Insurance paid by employers.

Reeves’ own personal approval ratings have also fallen from plus seven at the end of July to minus 18, the Savanta poll found.

Chris Hopkins, the pollsters’ political research director, said Labour’s advantage on the economy had “all but faded away since the election”.

“The Conservatives haven’t made up that much ground on the economy, taxation and cost of living, but many voters no longer think that Labour are the most trusted on these issues,” he said.

“Reeves would no doubt argue that she is being forced to take difficult decisions because of the inheritance left to her by her Conservative predecessors. While the public do have sympathy for that point of view, I think it’s fair to say they were expecting more from Labour.”