A new poll by Omnisis has revealed that six in ten Brits back Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson’s call to bring back the death penalty.
Mr Anderson said he would back the return of the death penalty during an interview with The Spectator magazine, saying “nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed”.
A majority of 58% of voters agreed with the controversial Ashfield MP, with only 28% saying it is not appropriate. Of those who supported the return of capital punishment, 71% were aged 55-64 years old whilst the 25-34-year-old bracket was least in favour on 51%.
In addition, 43% agreed capital punishment would be an effective deterrent with 26% disagreeing while 38% disagreed that the death penalty has no place in a modern society, with 30% agreeing.
Brian Cooper, Managing Director of Omnisis, said: “Although polls in recent years have shown support for the death penalty to be around 50%, some people may find it extremely surprising to learn that 58% of people support it.
“Finding out how people feel about significant societal issues, such as the death penalty, is always interesting, especially when those in positions of authority and influence make them newsworthy.
“It’s part of our job, as pollsters, to tap into the collective consciousness of the country to discover how in-tune our leaders are with public opinion – even when the results may not match our personal values. This was a particularly interesting and surprising finding.”
The pollsters’ latest voter intention tracker also saw Labour maintain a 21-point lead over the Conservatives but also revealed how more than two thirds of Brits do not know what Labour stands for on a range of major policy issues.
The latest results look like this:
ON VOTER INTENTION, PRIME MINSTER APPROVAL AND BEST PRIME MINISTER
- Labour dropped one point to 47% but keep a 21-point lead over the Conservatives who picked up two points on 26% this week.
- After his approval hit rock bottom last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a stunning recovery this week as he picked up eight points and has 31% approval from voters. He still has an -7 approval rating, however.
- Despite Mr Sunak’s approval rating surge, the country still thinks Sir Keir Starmer would make a better PM, with 36% compared to Rishi’s 27%.
ON BREXIT SENTIMENT
- There was a slight bump in support in sentiment which supports the UK staying out of the EU, moving from 38% to 42% this week, while the ‘re-join’ clamour stayed fairly steady in front with 58%.
ON LABOUR POLICIES
We asked voters if they knew what Labour is all about under Mr Starmer. Here’s what they said:
- Only 33% agreed they knew what Sir Keir Starmer stood for, with 30% disagreeing
- On average, 66% of British voters said they did not know what Labour’s policies were on a range of big ticket issues such as education (66%), health (61%), defence (73%), environment (68%), energy (65%) and the economy (66%).
The poll, conducted on 9th-10th February 2023, questioned 1,284 people and is weighted to a national representative population. The tables will be published here: https://www.omnisis.co.uk/poll-results
Image Credit: EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA