THREE in four UK voters think that Britain’s best days are behind it, according to a major new poll.
The survey, conducted for Conservative peer Michael Ashcroft’s polling company, made headlines with its Westminster polling, which found that Reform UK had slipped into third place behind Labour and the Tories after leading for more than a year.
However, it also asked more than 5000 Brits for their opinions on a whole range of other issues, including Brexit, the state of the UK, and their views of Andy Burnham’s “No 10 North”.
Here are five of the most interesting things we learned from the new poll.
Britain’s best days are behind it
An overwhelming 74% of UK voters told the Ashcroft poll that they believe “Britain’s best days are behind us”, while 26% said they think the “best days are ahead”.
However, UK voters also do not generally blame Labour for the state of the country.
Asked if the “Britain’s economic problems” are primarily down to the decisions of the current UK Government (which has been in place since July 2024) or its predecessor and global economics, 37% pointed the figure at the Labour administration.
In contrast, 63% of UK voters said the blame lay either with the Tories or the “world economic situation”.
Further, 65% of Brits said the Tories have “learned nothing” since losing the 2024 General Election, while 35% believe that Kemi Badenoch’s party has “changed”.
Andy Burnham’s No 10 North
After taking power, one of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first acts was to shift some Downing Street operations out of London and into a new “No 10 North”, based in Manchester.
Burnham said he and other ministers would be expected to work from the Manchester site, which the UK Government said would bring the “levers of local economic growth and devolution together under one roof for the first time”.
Asked if they approved of the idea, UK voters were split. In total, 36% of people said they approved, while 37% said they did not.
On cost, 39% claimed that the UK could not afford to pay for No 10 North, while 34% said it could.
A General Election?
Burnham is Prime Minister, but did not even take part in the last General Election. Instead, he became an MP in a by-election, and underwent a coronation to become Labour leader just weeks later.
Asked how soon Burnham should call a General Election, 31% of people said it should happen “as soon as practically possible”. A further 23% said it should happen “in the next year or so” after he’s had a chance to settle in.
A further 30% said there is “no need for an early election” as Labour have a large majority, and the next vote should be in 2028 or 2029.
Burnham won public support elsewhere in the polling, beating both Badenoch and Farage on the question of who people would prefer as prime minister. Burnham beat the Tory leader by 63-37, and Farage by 71-29.
He also came top in polls on who would make the best prime minister (Burnham 44%, Badenoch 17%, Farage 15%), and who is seen as most likely to be prime minister after the next election (Burnham 38%, Badenoch 6%, Farage 14%).
Brexit, the EU, and the US
The Ashcroft poll found that most UK voters want a closer relationship with the EU – even rejoining aspects of the bloc – and most would sacrifice the so-called “special relationship” with the US for it.
In total, 57% of voters said that the UK needs “to accept that Brexit has failed and should try to re-join at least some aspects of the European Union”, while 43% said the opposite.
Further, 75% of people said that the UK should seek a closer relationship with the EU even if it means a more distant relationship with the US, while only 25% thought the UK should look for closer ties to the US.
A future UK Government
Polling has suggested that the next General Election could see a hung parliament, with no single party winning enough seats to command a majority in the House of Commons.
Asked if they would prefer a single-party government, 56% of UK voters said they would, while 44% said they’d like a coalition.
Further questions about the make-up of any coalition found that 56% of UK voters would prefer an arrangement involving the Greens, while 44% would prefer bringing Reform UK into a governing arrangement.
Asked which would be preferred, a Reform-Tory coalition or a Labour-LibDem-Green coalition, 30% backed the former, while 42% supported the latter.
Ultimately, however, UK voters were unconvinced that bringing new parties into the fold would make an impact.
In total, 48% said that “Labour and the Conservatives are part of the same failed political system and completely new ideas are needed”, while 52% said that new parties would “probably be no better”.
