Conservative members poll: Tax Preferences Survey

In a new poll conducted for Conservative Way Forward, we asked 526 Conservative Party members about their tax preferences.

The poll is covered by:

Polls of Conservative Party members come with uncertainty about group sizes (e.g., the proportion of current members who voted Leave and Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum). Caution is recommended when interpreting the numbers, especially for small groups. In addition, the sample size is not as large as in normal nationally representative samples, leading to a greater margin of error.

Q1. Generally, how would you describe the level of taxes in Britain today? (By taxes we mean all taxes together, including national insurance, income tax, VAT, and all the rest)

Unweighted Weighted Taxes are much too low Taxes are somewhat low Taxes are about right Taxes are somewhat high Taxes are much too high Prefer not to say Don’t know Total
Overall
Conservative Party Members 526 526 5% 2% 22% 39% 27% 3% 3% 100%
Gender
Female 215 177 2% 4% 24% 38% 24% 4% 4% 100%
Male 311 349 6% 1% 21% 40% 28% 2% 3% 100%
Age
18-49 133 191 8% 3% 20% 31% 32% 3% 4% 100%
50-64 162 130 4% 2% 22% 43% 24% 2% 3% 100%
65+ 231 205 2% 2% 24% 43% 23% 3% 3% 100%
Region
England 488 470 5% 2% 21% 39% 26% 3% 4% 100%
Scotland/Wales 38 56 4% 3% 26% 36% 29% 2% 100%
2016 Brexit referendum
Leave 394 389 4% 2% 21% 39% 28% 3% 3% 100%
Remain 89 110 6% 2% 26% 41% 19% 2% 4% 100%

Q2. Which of the following comes closest to your view?

Unweighted Weighted Government should cut the amount of tax people pay and spend less Government should increase the amount of tax people pay and spend more Government should keep the amount of tax and spending as they are now Prefer not to say Don’t know Total
Overall
Conservative Party Members 526 526 55% 7% 24% 4% 10% 100%
Gender
Female 215 177 49% 7% 24% 5% 15% 100%
Male 311 349 58% 7% 24% 3% 8% 100%
Age
18-49 133 191 61% 8% 19% 2% 9% 100%
50-64 162 130 55% 10% 24% 3% 7% 100%
65+ 231 205 48% 4% 29% 5% 13% 100%
Region
England 488 470 56% 7% 24% 4% 9% 100%
Scotland/Wales 38 56 41% 6% 29% 2% 22% 100%
2016 Brexit referendum
Leave 394 389 58% 6% 22% 4% 10% 100%
Remain 89 110 45% 10% 32% 3% 11% 100%

Q3. It has been estimated that the government spends millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to fund politically motivated groups. For example, UK Research and Innovation, the academic funding body, spends more than £4 million a year on the distribution of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion grants to universities.

Do you agree or disagree that the government should give less money to these kinds of groups to help deliver tax cuts?

Unweighted Weighted Completely agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Completely disagree Prefer not to say Don’t know Total
Overall
Conservative Party Members 526 526 51% 16% 8% 8% 10% 2% 4% 100%
Gender
Female 215 177 42% 14% 12% 13% 8% 4% 6% 100%
Male 311 349 56% 18% 7% 5% 11% 1% 3% 100%
Age
18-49 133 191 46% 16% 9% 12% 11% 2% 5% 100%
50-64 162 130 58% 13% 10% 5% 8% 2% 5% 100%
65+ 231 205 52% 19% 8% 5% 10% 3% 4% 100%
Region
England 488 470 52% 16% 8% 8% 10% 2% 4% 100%
Scotland/Wales 38 56 43% 23% 16% 3% 7% 2% 6% 100%
2016 Brexit referendum
Leave 394 389 58% 12% 8% 7% 9% 2% 4% 100%
Remain 89 110 31% 30% 11% 9% 11% 2% 5% 100%

Q4. Both the candidates to be Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister have said they want to cut taxes. If you had to choose how the government delivers these tax cuts, which of the following would you choose?

Unweighted Weighted Government should lower taxes by reducing the amount of money it spends on public services Government should lower taxes by increasing the amount of money Britain borrows and adding it to our national debt Prefer not to say Don’t know Total
Overall
Conservative Party Members 526 526 47% 27% 8% 18% 100%
Gender
Female 215 177 34% 31% 10% 25% 100%
Male 311 349 53% 25% 8% 14% 100%
Age
18-49 133 191 48% 33% 7% 11% 100%
50-64 162 130 47% 25% 7% 21% 100%
65+ 231 205 45% 23% 11% 21% 100%
Region
England 488 470 47% 28% 7% 18% 100%
Scotland/Wales 38 56 45% 22% 16% 17% 100%
2016 Brexit referendum
Leave 394 389 47% 26% 9% 17% 100%
Remain 89 110 47% 31% 6% 16% 100%

Q5. The Office for Budget Responsibility recently forecast that Britain’s public finances are on an unsustainable long-term path with a debt burden that could more than treble in fifty years’ time.

How concerned are you that excessive government borrowing and spending could bankrupt Britain in the years ahead?

Unweighted Weighted Not concerned at all Slightly concerned Somewhat concerned Very concerned Prefer not to say Don’t know Total
Overall
Conservative Party Members 526 526 18% 21% 28% 24% 3% 6% 100%
Gender
Female 215 177 11% 22% 30% 25% 5% 7% 100%
Male 311 349 22% 21% 26% 24% 2% 6% 100%
Age
18-49 133 191 22% 20% 22% 26% 1% 9% 100%
50-64 162 130 13% 24% 31% 25% 3% 5% 100%
65+ 231 205 17% 21% 31% 22% 4% 5% 100%
Region
England 488 470 19% 21% 28% 24% 3% 6% 100%
Scotland/Wales 38 56 12% 27% 27% 26% 2% 6% 100%
2016 Brexit referendum
Leave 394 389 18% 23% 27% 25% 3% 5% 100%
Remain 89 110 15% 20% 33% 21% 2% 9% 100%

Tables

Full tables are available here.