Tories Failing To Win Over Voters On Taxation

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

20 April 2005

A new poll for the Financial Times has revealed that the Conservative Party is failing to convince the British electorate of its low tax credentials, with the general election little more than two weeks away.

According to the poll conducted by MORI, more than two-thirds of voters believe that the Tories will be unable to cut tax, and will in fact increase taxation if voted into government.

This is around three times the number who think the party will cut tax.

However, there was one crumb of comfort for the Conservatives, as the poll revealed that even more voters - some four in five - believed that the Labour Party would increase taxation if re-elected to a third term.

Just under half of those polled, about 47%, believed that Labour has handled its tax and spending policies badly, whilst 43% thought that the government had done a good job in this regard.

Whilst Tory leader Michael Howard has been keen to tout the Conservatives as the party of low taxation, he has at the same time attracted criticism from within his own party that his initial £4 billion tax cut package is unambitious in scope.

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