Britain Barometer February 2022

The Britain Barometer is our regular polling of public opinion in Britain.  We cover a range of topics including political views and voting intentions, the economy, government policies and emerging issues important to the British public.

24 February 2022, London – Kantar Public publishes its latest barometer on British public opinion and voting intentions, which reveals that lowering the cost of living for UK households should top the government’s priority list. Just over half of Britons (52%) are now finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget compared to a year ago, which is the highest figure since March 2012. Many are pessimistic about the UK economy, with half thinking the economy is doing worse than it was a year ago.

Key findings from Kantar Public’s research, which took place between 17 and 21 February, include:

• More than half of Britons (52%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than they were a year ago (+8 vs January 2022). This is the highest level recorded since March 2012.
  With regards to the outlook on the UK economy, one in two (51%) thinks it is doing worse than it was a year ago (+12 vs January 2022).
• 45% of Britons think reducing the cost of living for households should be a priority for the UK government.
• Nearly three in ten (27%) are of the opinion that Keir Starmer would be better than Boris Johnson at reducing the cost of living, compared to 18% for Boris Johnson. A majority (55%) said neither leader would be better or did not know who would be best.
• A quarter (24%) of Britons said Boris Johnson would be better than Keir Starmer at improving the economy, with 21% thinking the opposite. A majority (55%) said neither leader would be better or did not know who would be best.
• Opinion is approximately evenly split on the topic of compulsory COVID-19 vaccination, but there is some movement in its favour. Nearly half (45%) now believe there should be compulsory vaccination (+5 vs January 2022) vs 47% who think that people should be allowed to choose for themselves (-3 vs January 2022).

More detailed analysis on themes

1. Household-level economic situation

When asked about their household situation, over half of Britons (52%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago (+8 vs January 2022). This is the highest level recorded since March 2012. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, in March 2020, only 27% said they were finding it harder than it was a year ago: this figure has been ticking up sharply since September 2021 (see graph 1).

Graph 1: Proportion of Britons who are finding it easier / harder to meet their monthly household budget compared to a year ago.

• Among those who report that it is harder to meet their household budget, four in ten (42%) cite the rising cost of energy bills as the main reason (+1 vs January 2022) while 22% attribute it to the rising cost of food (+1).
• Nearly one quarter (24%) of Britons are behind with some or all of their bills (nc vs January 2022) while 68% are up to date with all of their bills (-3).
• Nearly one third (30%) of working Britons believe their job is less secure than it was a year ago. Only 15% believe their job is more secure than it was a year ago, although 47% believe their job security is much the same as it was.
• One in two GB adults (51%) thinks the British economy is doing worse than it was a year ago (+12 vs January 2022). One in three (30%) thinks it is doing much the same (-12) but only 19% think it is doing better (nc).
• Over a third (34%) think that the British economy will be doing worse than it is now in a years’ time (+7 vs January 2022), 20% think it will be doing better (-7) while nearly half (46%) think it will be doing much the same as it is now.

2. Policy Priorities

When asked about the three most important priorities for the UK government if it is to improve public life in the UK, Britons cited the following policy areas

• reducing the cost of living (45%);
• investing more in the NHS (35%);
• reducing income inequality between the richest and the poorest (24%);
• more affordable housing (23%).

3. Party Leaders Rating 

When it comes to party leaders, a plurality believes neither Boris Johnson nor Keir Starmer is best placed to tackle the UK’s challenges. Furthermore, a large proportion simply don’t know who would be better.

Britons tend to think Keir Starmer would do a better job than Boris Johnson at: reducing the cost of living, reducing serious crime, managing the NHS, tackling climate change, telling the truth and making decisions in the best interest of the general public.

With respect to improving the economy, managing the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, Britons are of the view that Boris Johnson would be better placed to deal with these challenges
However, neither leader scores a 30% preference on any of these issues and the difference between the two is mostly in single figures.

4. Attitudes towards COVID-19

An increasing number of Britons think vaccines should be compulsory for all adults Satisfaction with the government’s handling of the pandemic remains stable:

• 44% think the government has handled the pandemic very/fairly poorly (-2 vs January 2022), while 45% think the government has handled it very/fairly well (-1).
• 45% think that vaccines should be compulsory for all adults (+5 vs January 2022) but they are still slightly outnumbered by those who think that people should be allowed to choose for themselves (47%, -3).

5. Views on Brexit 

The number of Britons who think Brexit has gone badly has increased:

• Nearly half (47%) of people think that Brexit has gone very/fairly badly (+8 vs January 2022).
• One in four (25%) think it has gone neither well nor badly (-3) but fewer than one in five (18%) think it has gone very/fairly well (-3%).

6. Voting Intentions

• Lab 39% (+1 vs January 2022)
• Con 34% (nc)
• L Dem 12% (+1)
• Green 6% (-1)
• SNP 4% (-1)
• Reform UK (formerly Brexit party) 2% (nc)
• UKIP 1% (nc)
• Plaid Cymru<1% (-1)
• Other 2% (+1)

Methodological information

A total of 1,090 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between the 17th and 21st February 2022. All interviews were conducted online using the Kantar Research Express. The Kantar online access panel was the main sample source.

The data was weighted to match population totals for age, gender, 2019 General Election voting patterns, 2016 EU referendum voting patterns, education, region, and likelihood to vote in the next General Election. Any use of this research must cite Kantar Public as the source.

This Britain Barometer was issued under our former global brand name: Kantar Public.