General Election polls: One in two people think the Tories will hike income tax

Tax trust issues: Prime Minister Theresa May
REUTERS
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More than half the public think the Conservatives will hike income tax if they win the general election, an exclusive poll shows today.

Ipsos MORI found that despite the Government’s promises to take less tax from the less well-off, 54 per cent of people think the Tories would put income tax up, while only one in three believe they will not.

Even among Conservative voters, nearly half (46 per cent) think a Conservative government will raise taxes.

Fewer than half trust Mrs May’s administration to keep its promises in general if it wins, while half expect the Conservatives to break their word. Only 31 per cent think their standard of living will rise if the Tories get back in.

For Labour, expectations are also mixed. Some 70 per cent think Jeremy Corbyn will raise taxes.

Seven in 10 predict a Conservative victory on June 8, including half of Labour supporters. And 60 per cent think the Conservatives will negotiate a good deal on Brexit, twice as many as believe Labour will.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said the expectations of a Tory win echoed polls before the landslide victories of Margaret Thatcher in 1983 and Tony Blair in 1987. “And our past experience shows that people expected Tony Blair and David Cameron to raise tax too — and that didn’t stop them,” he added.

Only half the country think earning £80,000 makes you “rich”, the research discovered. Although this income level was chosen by the shadow chancellor as the point where income taxes would go up if Labour wins, the country is divided over whether it makes a person wealthy.

Some 23 per cent, however, think that riches mean an income of more than £150,000.

Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,053 adults across Great Britain by telephone from May 15 to 17. Data is weighted.

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