Overall amongst UK adults, half (50%) say that the timing of the UK coming out of lockdown is ‘about right’, with a quarter saying its too fast (26%) and two in five saying that its too slow (19%).
The proportion who say its too slow rises to a quarter (24%) amongst those aged 18-34, with two in five of this age group (43%) saying that the timing is ‘about right’.
Unsurprisingly, over three in five 2019 Conservative voters say that the government’s roadmap is ‘about right’ (63%), while a third of Labour voters say that its ‘too fast’ (33%).
Are the current restrictions clear?
Overall, it seems that UK adults think that they are. Three in five (61%) say that they are clear, with under one in five saying that they are unclear (17%). Those aged 18-34 are the most likely to say that the restrictions are ‘unclear’ (21%).
New variants a threat to the roadmap?
Despite the success of the vaccine rollout and both cases and deaths at their lowest for months, three in five are ‘concerned’ that new variants of coronavirus could push back the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown (61%), with a third saying that they are ‘not concerned’ about this (33%).
Those aged 55+ (68%) and 2019 Labour voters (69%) are the most concerned groups, while those aged 18-34 are the most likely to say that they are not concerned (37%).
COVID-19 handling approval ratings
Approval of Boris Johnson’s handling of COVID-19 continues its recovery and is on +2% for the week ending 11th April. This is 20pts higher than his personal low rating of -22% for the week ending 1st November last year.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer continues to struggle, down to -8% approval for his handling of the pandemic, a staggering 26pts down from the score of +18% he enjoyed when we began tracking the LOTO in mid-March 2020.
Rishi Sunak continues to have the highest COVID-19 approval rating of his cabinet peers with +12% for the week ending 11th April. This is down 37pts from the week ending 29th March last year (+49%), and perhaps exposes a more accurate picture of his approval given the earlier boost he enjoyed due to popular policies such furlough and help out to eat out.
Worry about coronavirus
Levels of worry about the virus are at their lowest level for over a year. Just over a third (35%) say that they are either ‘very worried’ or the ‘most worried ever’ about COVID-19. This is 17pts lower than the proportion who said the same for the week ending 31 January (52%), and 19pts down from a high of 55% at the start of May last year.
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes said, “In the week where England enters phase two of the roadmap, it is perhaps not a surprise to see the level of worry about coronavirus at its lowest ever since we began our tracker last March.
The difficulty for Boris Johnson will remain communicating the risk of coronavirus, and his recent statements that the country is not out of the woods just yet appear to be contradicted not only by the lifting of restrictions, but also by how worried the public feel.”
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