Graphic: impact of Darling's measures

Support for Gordon Brown as the right leader to deal with the recession has fallen sharply over the past fortnight, according to a special Populus poll for The Times. This shows that only just over a third of voters think that the Government’s measures to boost the economy will make things better in either the short or long term.

As many people think that the package announced on Monday by Alistair Darling will “make no real difference to the economy”. But fewer than a fifth believe that the measures will make things worse in the short term, over the next few months, and a quarter say that they will get worse in the long term, over the next few years.

Since the last Populus poll on November 7 to 9, Mr Brown has dropped sharply as the best leader “right now, to deal with Britain’s economy in recession”, from 52 to 42 per cent, with a big fall among the middle classes. But he is still ahead of David Cameron, on 36 per cent, up four points. Mr Cameron is still ahead, by 41 to 33 per cent, as the preferred leader to take Britain forward after the next election.

The poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, suggests that the public remain unsure about why the economy has deteriorated so quickly, as well as about whether the Government’s response will work.

More than half the public (54 per cent) say that they would save any money they end up with as a result of Mr Darling’s measures. But 28 per cent say they would use any money to “catch up on bills” that they have fallen behind with. Middle-class people are much more inclined to save and working-class voters to catch up on bills. Just under a fifth (18 per cent), evenly spread across the classes, would spend any money on “things you might not otherwise have bought”.

Voters generally back the decision to introduce a 45 per cent top rate of income tax for those earning more than £150,000 a year. But there are contradictory views. Two thirds say “it is fair and right for the richest people in Britain to pay more of the cost of measures to avoid the recession”, while 54 per cent say “the tax rise on high earners signals the end of new Labour and shift to the left by Mr Brown”. Labour voters are evenly split, 45 to 46 per cent, on this statement.

Roughly two fifths, 42 per cent, say that “raising the top rate of income tax is an attack on aspiration and entrepreneurship”, with 51 per cent disagreeing. But voters are split, 44 to 50 per cent, on the statement that “rather than raise taxes on high earners, it would be better to cut back the growth of public spending even more”. The number favouring a tighter spending squeeze is higher than those thinking that Monday’s measures will make things better. Tory voters agree by 60 to 34 per cent; Labour voters disagree by 56 to 40 per cent.

There was no voting intention question but the poll suggests that Mr Brown and Mr Darling have retained their lead as most trusted to deal with Britain’s economic problems in the months and years ahead, by 38 to 35 per cent over Mr Cameron and George Osborne. This compares with a 36 to 33 per cent margin in a Populus poll a fortnight ago. The public’s response is likely to shift over the next few weeks as more evidence emerges about the depth of the recession and about whether banks are resuming lending.

Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,010 adults over 18 by phone on November 25-26. Interviews were conducted across the country and results have been weighted to be representative of all adults. For more details, see www.populus.co.uk

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