A majority of voters continue to support striking nurses and ambulance workers, despite government claims that they are putting the public at risk, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
Labour has also increased its lead over the Tories by 1 percentage point, to 16 points, after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and other cabinet ministers tried to make political capital by accusing Keir Starmer and his party of being in the pockets of the unions at a time of industrial unrest, the survey shows.
The poll puts net support for the striking nurses at +26%, although this has fallen by 4 points since December. About 57% of voters support the nurses striking for more pay, against 31% who are opposed. The nurses continue to enjoy the highest level of public support among different groups of striking workers.
Striking ambulance workers have the second-highest support, with 52% of voters backing their walkouts and 35% opposed.
By contrast, the proportion of people who back railway workers taking action (38%) is lower than the proportion that opposes them doing so (46%).
For teachers, who are awaiting the results of ballots before any action can go ahead, the public is more evenly split. About 40% would support action by primary and secondary school teachers, but 43% would oppose teachers’ strikes in primary schools and 44% would be against action in secondary schools.
When asked who had handled the strikes better, the government or the unions, 34% of people said they approved of the way the Royal College of Nursing had handled the strikes, while 21% disapproved. By contrast, only 14% approved of the government’s performance, against 48% who disapproved.
In the case of the RMT rail union, 24% of voters approved of its handling of the train strikes, while 36% disapproved. Just 17% approved of the government, compared with 42% who disapproved.
The polls show support for Labour has edged up 1 point to 45% since the last survey three weeks ago, while the Tories remain unchanged on 29%. This suggests that the government’s strategy of trying to pin blame on Labour for the strikes because it is part-funded by the unions is failing to pay off.
The Liberal Democrats are unchanged on 9%, Reform UK is down 2 points on 6% and the Greens remain on 5%.
Sunak’s net approval as prime minister has dropped from -7 to -14, as 27% approve and 41% disapprove of his performance. About 33% approve and 30% disapprove of Starmer’s performance as Labour leader.
