30 April 2023 , 23:01
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More than half of Brits expect the Tories to lose seats at the local elections on Thursday, a poll shows.
Some 55% of people told Ipsos UK that they thought the Tories would lose seats while just 9% thought the party would make gains.
The picture for Labour was better, with 45% saying they expected the party to pick up council seats.
The public was also more likely to say Labour councillors were better at delivering local services, setting the right level of council tax and listening to local residents than those from other parties.
However a large proportion of voters said that either no party was better than the others or they did not know who would be best.
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Keir Starmer sought to manage expectations yesterday, saying the extent of the Tory losses in the 2019 local elections make it "quite hard" for Labour to win big.
The picture for Keir Starmer's Labour was better, with 45% saying they expected the party to pick up council seats (Getty Images)He told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "For the Conservative Party the baseline is on the floor and they should be making gains and if they can't make gains on that awful set of the results then I think there are serious questions as to whether Rishi Sunak is going backwards in fact in terms of their electoral prospects.
“So it's a difficult cycle because of that baseline but I think really the question will be why aren't the Conservatives making significant gains."
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Ipsos’s survey found people put more weight on local factors when deciding which council candidates to vote for.
Asked what factors were "very important" when deciding who to vote for, 42% mentioned the local council's performance in running their area and 41% mentioned the promises local parties made.
However, 33% still said policies on national issues were an important factor and 31% mentioned the Government's performance in running the UK.
On specific issues that would determine how people would vote, 52% talked about the cost of living and 45% mentioned the NHS.
Only 24% said their opinion of national leaders such as Rishi Sunak and Mr Starmer would factor into their local election votes.
Keiran Pedley, research director at Ipsos, said: "These results show how local elections are different to general elections in the minds of voters, who prioritise local issues over national ones when deciding how to vote in them.
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"However, the national picture is never far away, with the cost of living and NHS still on voters' minds as they head to the polls, especially for those aged under 55.
"Meanwhile, if the public are right, the Conservatives are likely to face a difficult set of results on Thursday, reflecting the current unpopularity of the Conservative government nationally."
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