It's the economy (again) stupid
PoliticsHome have put up the Phi5000 results of their daily tracker on most important issues from the last month. I've commented on the way the economy is climbing up the list of important issues in Ipsos MORI's monthly polls, but these show it finally overtaking immigration to be what the Phi5000 panellists see as the most important issue facing the county.
Hard economic issues are generally on the rise, there have been similar rises in the perceived importance of taxation as an issue and, more surprisingly given it really has been off the agenda for a very long time - inflation.
On the way down, immigration is no longer the number one issue: at the start of April around 50% of respondents were naming it as one of the top three issues facing the country, it's now dropped to 39%. "Soft" issues are also on the decline, it's most noticable with climate change and the environment. At the beginning of April 19% were naming it as an important issue, that has fallen to 12%. There have been smaller falls in people seeing education and health as important issues.
Looking at the longer term trends from MORI, back at the end of the last Conservative government the big issues were health, unemployment, education crime and Europe. During the Blair years unemployment and Europe gradually disappeared as major issues and immigration and - at times - international terrorism and the war in Iraq topped the poll. Now we appear to be seeing another shift in priorities as the economy takes centre stage.
