Savanta poll: By 58% to 35% the rail strikes are “justified”
I added the above Savanta poll as an update sometime after the previous post was published and given its findings I thought it was worth a thread in Its own right. For the whole of Ministers’ strategy has been based on the public backing their robust opposition to the rail workers. If Savanta is right then Team Johnson has got this one wrong.
Of course, you would expect GE2019 LAB voters to be supportive but not 37% of those who voted for Johnson and his party at the election. That split is remarkable though it should be seen as a further indication of how the government has lost so much of its GE2019 support.
At GE2019 the Tories secured just under 45% of the GB vote. That is now down in recent polls to about 33% so more than a quarter has shifted.
The fieldwork took place throughout Tuesday – the first day of the strike when it was dominating the bulletins. A key factor about the Savanta poll is that unlike the YouGov respondents were given an explanation of the dispute before answering questions. This suggests that learning more about the issues involved makes people more supportive of the action.
If this industrial action drags on then expect a lot more surveys like this.
Tomorrow, of course, the Tories are defending the Wakefield and Devon by-elections.