Latest polling conducted by Savanta ComRes last night, after Boris Johnson’s announcement, shows strong support for new four-week lockdown. Almost three quarters say they support the measures (72%), with just 15% saying that they oppose them. One in ten (11%) say they neither support nor oppose the measures.
Support is highest for closing pubs, bars and restaurants, with three quarters of English adults supporting it (76%), and just one in ten opposing it (12%). Around half (47%) say they support schools, colleges, and universities staying open, with two in five opposing keeping these open (37%).
When asked how long they think the measures will last, almost half (47%) of English adults think we’ll emerge later than the planned date of 2nd December, while a third believe the measures will end on that date (32%). Just over one in five believe the restrictions will end earlier than the planned date of 2nd December (7%).
Whilst there is clear support for the measures, nearly two thirds think this lockdown has come too late (65%), with just 17% saying that the measures have come at the right time. One in ten say that they have come too early (11%).
When asked about how the Government has handled the pandemic over the last month, around half of English adults think they have handled it badly (53%), while around a quarter think they have handled it well (23%).
Commenting on the findings, Associate Director at Savanta ComRes, Chris Hopkins, said “Although the nation clearly supports the new lockdown, there is a worry it is too late and might well need to last longer than the planned four weeks. With the Conservatives seemingly forced into another u-turn on their COVID strategy, Labour could benefit after Sir Keir Starmer’s call for a national lockdown two weeks ago appears to have been vindicated.”
Methodology: Savanta ComRes interviewed 1,007 English adults online, after 7pm on 31st October 2020. Data were weighted to be representative of United Kingdom adults by age, gender, region, ethnicity and socio-economic characteristics including social grade. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
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