The latest YouGov issues tracker, a monthly survey which asks voters to list the issues they think are the most important facing the UK, shows that 46% of Britons feel health is the issue of upmost concern.
Immigration and the economy still top the rankings, but concerns over health are up 13 points since last month. And with the poll’s fieldwork carried out on 5-6 January, the impact of Tuesday’s news that hospital A&E waiting times are on their worst levels since standards were introduced has yet to trickle down into the numbers.
The last quarter of 2014 had seen health averaging at 38% in YouGov’s tracker compared to an average of 31% in the first three months of the year.
All this matters because voters trust different parties to handle different issues. The saliency of issues will play a critical role in May’s election. Labour is most trusted in managing the health service, Ukip are viewed as most sensitive to voters’ worries when it comes to immigration, while the Tories are seen as best at dealing with the economy.
The issue which voters are most worried about - relative to the other issues they care about - will influence who they vote for in four months time.
Also of concern to David Cameron and the Conservatives, the YouGov poll revealed that Labour won the first round of the “poster wars”. More people found Labour’s claims over the NHS generally true than those not believing the poster’s message. As significantly, 49% don’t think the government has halved the deficit compared to 24% that does.
