Half of Tory voters think the Government’s handling of the Covid pandemic has damaged the economy, as new polling also shows the public inquiry into the pandemic has left voters believing ministers are less compassionate than they previously thought.
New polling shows two in three voters believe that the way the government handled the pandemic has left the country worse off – with 60 per cent saying ministers damaged the economy, 62 per cent public services, and 57 per cent ordinary living standards.
Nearly half of Conservative 2019 voters believed the government did a bad job at minimising the impact on the economy (47 per cent bad job versus 41 per cent good job) and public services (49 per cent bad job versus 37 per cent good job).
The inquiry has lifted the lid on the internal workings of Boris Johnson’s government in tackling the pandemic.
As well as revealing chaotic decision-making, it has included vivid accounts of the private thoughts of key figures, with the former prime minister said to have been “bamboozled” by the science behind Covid, his chief aide Dominic Cummings describing the Cabinet as “useless f**kpigs” and Rishi Sunak branded “Dr Death” by a senior Government scientist.
Voters also say their belief in government competence has fallen (41 per cent), that ministers and officials are less compassionate than they thought (39 per cent), and that British political culture is worse (38 per cent) than they previously believed.
This compares to just 9 per cent overall who say their opinion on these measures has actually improved, the Opinium survey for Compassion in Politics showed.
This includes a third of 2019 Conservative voters – 36 per cent say their belief in government competence has fallen and 33 per cent say they now think the government is less compassionate and that their view of British political culture is more negative.
Mr Sunak did appear to get some credit for his furlough scheme from 2019 Tory voters with more saying the government handled Covid’s impact on living standards well (44 per cent versus 43 per cent badly).
In a new report, Compassion in Politics said that a number of solutions it has proposed to remedy failings identified by the Covid inquiry have wide public support, according to the poll.
This includes three quarters of voters (including 80 per cent of Tories) who would welcome “frontline” work experience for ministers, for example the health secretary spending two weeks working in a hospital.
People also back putting people with lived experience of an issue at the heart of decision-making (66 per cent), for example by consulting people who use social security on welfare policies.
There is also majority and cross-party support for compassion coaching in parliament (72 per cent).
Jennifer Nadel, co-director of Compassion in Politics, said: “The Covid inquiry has lifted the lid on government decision-making during the crisis to reveal chaos, confusion, and, at times, callousness.
“The antidote is to create clear, professional rules, norms, and values rooted in compassion.
“Politics should be about alleviating avoidable suffering, not adding to it. Compassion provides a core value that leads to better processes and outcomes.
“By identifying the ways we can embed compassion at the heart of politics, we can create a system that is infinitely more caring, effective, cooperative, and inclusive.”
Former Liberal Democrat minister Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy, said: “The Covid inquiry is revealing all that is wrong in the way the government and ministers handled the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Fortunately, in their report, Compassion in Politics identifies some practical and cost-effective measures that would dramatically improve the government and ministers’ ability to respond to crises.
“We need to hear promptly from the Government how and when they are going to implement them.”
Opinium surveyed 2,132 UK adults from 13-15 December online. The sample was weighted to be nationally and politically representative of the UK. Opinium is a member of the British polling council.
