MidBritain - Insight into the UK's Superconsumers

In this issue of The MidBritain Report we clearly show that MidBritons have a key role in deciding who will win the next General Election. Although the recent MP expenses scandals had cost MP's their trust, it had led to the Conservatives being well on course to win the next General Election.

MidBritons have key role in deciding General Election victors

• Eight out of every ten MidBritons voted at the last General Election, a considerably higher strike rate than the rest of the population, of which only 61% reached for the ballot. It means that any of three main political parties hoping to govern after the forthcoming election, has to win a sizeable majority of this key group’s support.

• Even though the latest findings indicate that the Conservatives would comfortably win if an election were held today, support in the face of the expenses scandal has declined severely since the turn of the year. Some MidBritons say that they have lost faith in the parliamentary system and the number of people who don’t think they would vote has increased. 37% of MidBritons would vote for the Conservative Party, with Labour, the incumbent party’s support at an alarming 8%. The Liberal Democrats have just managed to keep Labour behind them in third place, with the backing of 9%.

• MidBritons, like the public as a whole, are very angry at the way MPs have abused the expenses system. More than a third claim that the shocking revelations came as little surprise, demonstrating a considerable lack of trust in MPs and the political system, even before the scandal came to light. 70% of MidBritons say that MPs will have to work hard to regain their trust.
• 73% of MidBritons feel that the MPs should face criminal proceedings, while 8 in 10 strongly believe that the system should be reformed. The majority (79%) also agree that MPs should be made to pay back any money that isn’t deemed to be critical to them carrying out their duties. Just under half believe that the government should take charge in rectifying the situation.

• Trust in the country’s leading politicians has, for the most part (with one or two notable exceptions), been badly hit compared to January’s findings.
• Gordon Brown’s rating fell to a perilously low 19%, down from 31% at the turn of the year. Tellingly, Tory leader David Cameron’s rating has held steady at 57%, a slight dip from 61% in January but up 3% from the 54% he received in September 2008. Conversely, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg is the only leader from the three main political parties to have seen his trust rating rise from 34% to 42%.
• The results indicate that MidBritons have been satisfied with Clegg and Cameron’s handling of the expenses debacle, but disappointed with the Prime Minister’s performance.
• Levels for senior figures in the Labour government have declined the most, with Chancellor Alistair Darling dropping from 22% to 11%. While Deputy Leader Harriet Harman, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and the recently departed Jacqui Smith saw their trust ratings drop down into single digits.
• William Hague remains MidBritain’s second most popular politician with 54%, slightly less than the 58% he scored last time around.
• London Mayor Boris Johnson’s rating his seen little movement over the past nine months, with 51% saying they trust him.

• Even though two thirds of MidBritons continue to feel apprehensive about the economic climate, consumer confidence has started to rise with less people feeling negatively affected.

• There has been a significant decline in concern over ‘living costs’ (from 85% to 69%) and corresponding decreases in negative perceptions towards High Street prices. This improvement is a key factor in helping an economic recovery, as the cost of living has the most direct impact on consumer confidence.

• Fears over stock market volatility and employment uncertainty have increased this quarter and are significantly up year-on-year. Financially savvy saving MidBritons worried over low interest rates have reached a record high at 65%.

• 59% of MidBritons claim to be more careful with their money as a result of the economic climate which is the lowest figure tracked to date. Similarly MidBritons are currently less likely to cut down on luxury or non essential items, again showing the lowest tracked figure to date.