Britain Barometer June 2021

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.

Our latest study into British public opinion and voting intentions finds an increasing proportion of people who think that the COVID restrictions are being adjusted too fast, dips in the approval levels of the government’s handling of COVID-19 and a public increasingly in support of vaccine passports for international travel. 

Key findings from our research between 3 and 7 June are:

• 65% (+5 vs April) of people strongly/tend to support the introduction of a vaccine passport to allow overseas travels into and out of the UK this summer, whilst 23% oppose the idea (+2). 12% are unsure (-6)
• Over four in ten (42%, -4) think the pace at which the government is adjusting the restrictions to everyday life is ‘about right’
• However, a growing proportion think that the pace at which the government is adjusting restrictions to everyday life is much/a bit too fast: 29% compared to 23% in April
• One in five (20%, +1) think the pace at which the government is adjusting the restrictions to everyday life is much / a bit too slow
• 47% of people (-4) say they think the government have handled the pandemic very/ fairly well. 45% say very/fairly poorly (+4)
• 49% of people rate the government as very/fairly good in how there are communicating information about the coronavirus outbreak, compared to 58% in April. 44% rate it as fairly/ very poor (+8)
• Almost half of Britons (49%, +4) think COVID vaccination should be compulsory for adults. 42% (nc) think adults should be able to choose

More detailed analysis on themes

1. Attitudes towards the vaccination campaign and COVID-19 restrictions 

Despite some dips in the approval levels of the government’s handling of the pandemic, the vaccine rollout continues to be rated positively:

• Nearly eight in ten people (79%, +5) say they are very/somewhat satisfied with the vaccine rollout organised by government and health authorities
• There is particularly high satisfaction amongst older age groups: 92% of 65 + and 88% of those aged 55-64
• 31% (+5) rate the cooperation between countries globally in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak at very/fairly good. 52% say very/fairly poor (-4)

When it comes to vaccine passports:

• Older people in Britain are much more in favour of COVID status certifications (“vaccine passports”) to allow overseas travel (84% of 65+ strongly/tend to support, +6) compared to people aged 18-24 (51%, +5)
• Women are more in favour than men with 68% stating to strongly/tend to support, compared to 63% of men

2. Household economic impacts

This month’s research finds that 38% of Britons think the economy will be doing better in 12 months’ time, compared to 29% in April. Other findings include:

• Over 6 in 10 (61%, -1) now say that their personal income “has not been impacted” by coronavirus, compared to 56% in March, 54% in February and 49% in January
• 29% (+6) say it is harder for them to meet their monthly household budget than it was 12 months ago. One third of 18–24-year-olds say this (33%)
• 17% say their job feels safer than it was 12 months ago (+7), 27% say less safe (+3) and 50% say much the same (-5)
• Two thirds (66%) expect that their regular food shop will be much/a little more expensive in the next few months as a result of Brexit. 5% think much/a little cheaper

When asked about the impact of the pandemic on personal savings, there is a mixed picture in Britain:

• One in four (25%, +4) say their savings have decreased since the start of the pandemic, 37% (-4) say they have stayed the same, and 21% (+1) say their savings have increased
• Of the people who saved extra money, only 3% (nc) of them intend to spend it all by the end of the year. 60% (+4) who have saved extra money say that they will only spend “some of it” or “none at all” this year

3. A greener future? Public priorities post pandemic 

When asked to think about what should happen after the end of the coronavirus pandemic:

• 41% of people think that actions to address climate change should be of a priority for governments than before (+6 vs March 2021), whilst 37% think it should be same as before (-3), and 13% (nc) think less of a priority

When asked to rank 11 possible measures to improve public life in the UK in order of importance, 25% of people put “tackling climate change and protecting the environment” as one of their top three issues whilst 36% of people placed it as one of their bottom three issues.

4. Other public priorities

When asked about government action to improve women’s safety:

•  Half of the public (53%, +6) feel the government is doing too little to help women feel safe in public places, with women more likely to say so than men (56% vs 49%). Only 21% (+1) think the government is doing enough.
• 44% (nc) think that the government is doing too little to help women feel safe when they use online platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. 21% (+3) say they are doing enough, and 3% (-1) ‘too much’

5. Voting intentions

• Con 45% (+4 vs April 2021)
• Lab 32% (-1)
• L Dem 8% (-2)
• Green 6% (-1)
• SNP 4% (-1)
• Reform UK (formerly Brexit Party) 2% (-1)
• Plaid Cymru 1% (+1)
• UKIP 1% (nc)
• Other 1% (nc)

6. Methodological information

A total of 1,122 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between the 3rd and 7th June April 2021. 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 as the source.

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