Andy Burnham is significantly more trusted by voters on the economy than Nigel Farage and Sir Keir Starmer – but the public wants him to follow through on suggestions of a tax cut for workers.
The likely next prime minister has a net trust score on the economy of -8 per cent, 16 points ahead of Farage and 23 ahead of Starmer, but one point behind Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, according to the BMG Research poll for The i Paper.
As Burnham prepares to deliver a major speech on the economy on Monday, it is a boost for his argument that he is best placed to take on Reform UK and comes after figures showed he will give the party a significant “bounce” in the polls.
But in a sign of the challenge facing Burnham if he becomes prime minister, voters are clamouring for a tax cut that he suggested he could push through during his victorious Makerfield by-election campaign.
Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of voters want Burnham to raise the threshold at which workers start to pay income tax, with just 11 per cent opposing the move.
The new Makerfield MP said he asked his team to have a “proper look” at whether raising the £12,570 personal allowance threshold at which people start paying would be feasible as it was a demand he “heard on so many doorsteps” while campaigning.
But such a tax cut would likely cost billions while the public finances are tight.
A majority of voters (51 per cent) also back full nationalistation of utilities such as water and energy, which could put Burnham under pressure to back full public ownership, with just 16 per cent opposed.
He has so far stopped short of this, instead calling for greater “public control” of utility firms such as England’s sewage-dumping water companies, which could stop short of full nationalisation.
Other policies Burnham has suggested he could take forward in Government find more limited support, with 30 per cent backing his proposal for a land value tax to replace council tax and stamp duty, with 21 per cent opposed.
Reinstating the northern leg of HS2 is only supported by 29 per cent of those polled, but is opposed by 30 per cent.
Amid a fierce debate in Westminster over who Burnham should pick as chancellor, more Labour voters believe he should sack Rachel Reeves rather than keep her in post at the Treasury.
Reeves is widely expected to lose her job if Burnham takes over as prime minister, as is expected as early as next month – a move that would be backed by more voters than oppose it despite the Chancellor’s attempts to stay in the job in the face of a dire personal rating of -40.
Opinion is however split among who should take over, with Miliband the narrow frontrunner alternative for Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters despite warnings that the Energy Secretary would be a risky choice as he is seen as a left-winger.
By contrast, Conservative and Reform voters would prefer Wes Streeting, who is seen as more of a centrist and closer to those parties’ views on the economy.
However, none of the candidates are endorsed by anywhere near a significant number of people.
The polling suggested that sacking Reeves and replacing her with a senior Labour figure is backed by similar proportions of Labour (38 per cent) and Conservative (39 per cent) voters.
Among Labour voters, Miliband was the preferred alternative (12 per cent) ahead of Streeting (9 per cent) and comfortable beating others such as Yvette Cooper (6 per cent), Shabana Mahmood (4 per cent), Pat McFadden (3 per cent) and John Healey (2 per cent).
Conservative (10 per cent) and Reform voters (8 per cent) are more likely to favour Streeting.
But high proportions of voters said they either did not know who should be the next chancellor or said they wanted none of the senior figures named in the survey.
Jack Curry, pollster at BMG Research, said: “There is no clear public answer on who should hold the purse strings. Rachel Reeves tops the field, but only just, with one in ten saying she should stay on, rising to just over a fifth of Labour’s 2024 voters.
“No alternative breaks away from the pack, and more than four in ten simply do not know. Her own ratings underline the problem.
“Just 15 per cent are satisfied with her as Chancellor against 56 per cent dissatisfied. That leaves the next Labour leader an awkward choice, between a Chancellor the public has soured on and potential replacements the public largely do not yet know.”
:: BMG surveyed a representative sample of 1,508 GB adults on 23rd and 24th June. Data was collected after Keir Starmer announced he was standing down as Labour leader. BMG are members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
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