Five things we learned from the IfG conference’s exclusive polling
Teodor Grama and Jack Worlidge summarise last week’s Deltapoll research for the IfG.

Last week the IfG held its annual conference, Government 2025. For this year's event, we commissioned exclusive polling looking at voters’ views on the Starmer government’s record so far and what it should do next. The findings show that the prime minister and his cabinet face an uphill battle
1. The public are sceptical about the government’s ability to deliver growth (or anything else)
Three quarters of respondents in our exclusive Deltapoll–IfG polling thought the government has not been effective in improving the lives of people like them (74%), while under a quarter believe that it has (22%). A clear majority of voters – across all demographics including gender, age and location – expressing reservations about the government’s ability to deliver meaningful change to their lives will not make for comfortable reading in No.10.
More concerning for a government which might point to a relatively short time in office (the poll was conducted almost exactly six months after the election) is that voters are not confident in its ability to improve their lives in four years’ time, either – or, crucially, to deliver on its growth mission. Indeed, just 23% believed the economy will have grown by then, against 41% who believed it will have shrunk.
Although more people now think a Conservative government led by Kemi Badenoch with Mel Stride as chancellor would be better for the British economy than the current government, two thirds of respondents thought the previous Conservative government was ineffective in improving their lives. When asked which 21st century prime minister did the best job of being in government, the most popular answer was ‘there is no difference between any of them’ (30%).
Against this backdrop, the government could turn to the Plan for Change announced by Starmer in December. Setting out a series of milestones and focussing the machinery of government around them could improve delivery – as could a spending review updated to take in almost all of the IfG's recommendations. The government has staked much of its reputation on its five missions – its electoral fortunes come the next election will depend on whether voters feel they have been achieved.
2. The cost of living continues to loom large
When asked about the biggest three issues facing them and their family, almost two thirds of respondents listed the cost of living (64%) – the most common answer across all demographics. So the government’s decision to re-cast its growth mission around ‘raising living standards in every part of the country’ seems wise. The economy itself is also listed as a separate challenge by just under a third of respondents (31%).
It is too early to assess the success of the government’s growth agenda. But as its lead department, the Treasury could do worse than flesh out how the government’s various announcements from the past six months – from its industrial strategy to planning reforms – come together to form a coherent growth plan, or, as political scientist Ben Ansell put it in a widely-circulated blog post, a 'theory of growth'. 4 https://open.substack.com/pub/benansell/p/grasping-for-growth
3. A generational divide has emerged in voters’ priorities
Beyond the cost of living, different groups diverge on their priorities. There is a particularly stark generational divide: the second most pressing issue for ‘Baby Boomers’ and their families is the NHS (mentioned by 57%) – for ‘Generation Z’ it only ranks fourth (17%). Housing is cited as one of the most important issues by 19% of Gen Z but only 9% of Baby Boomers. Immigration and asylum is brought up by one in five Baby Boomers but by less than one in ten Gen Zers (6%).
Notably, while only 14% of respondents think immigration is among the most important issues facing them and their family, the proportion more than doubles when asked about issues facing the country as a whole (29%). But the generational gap also widens.
Because of such diverging priorities, the government must accept it will not be able to please everyone. Indeed so far it is the young rather than the elderly who are more likely to think the government’s actions will improve their lives in four years’ time (42% of Gen Z thought so, compared to only 18% of Baby Boomers).
4. Respondents favoured more money for the NHS – and less for the civil service
When asked to pick three areas in which the government should spend more, investing in the NHS was the most popular option, with 70% of respondents selecting it. The second-most popular pick was social care for elderly people – at 32%, and with a significant generational gradient: 46% of Baby Boomers listed it as an option, compared to only 17% of Gen Z. Controlling borders and crime and policing ranked joint third, at 29% each. Beyond more investment in the NHS (which the government can point to in last autumn’s budget), the public’s spending priorities remain split.
If the government had to reduce spending, respondents thought cuts should be made to the civil service (41%), climate change initiatives (34%) and local government (28%). Voters’ eagerness to reduce expenditure on the civil service may at least partly stem from it being less visible in people’s daily lives – certainly less so than crime and policing, or pensions. But it also reveals a widespread feeling that the civil service, or the state more broadly, isn’t delivering as it is expected to. The prime minister himself seemingly echoed this sentiment recently, and instructed his newly appointed cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald, to carry out no less than a “complete re-wiring of the British state”.
Indeed, as our recently published Whitehall Monitor 2025 made plain, persistent problems in the UK civil service – including excessive churn, grade inflation and a skills deficit in AI, digital and data – are endangering the government's missions. So civil service (and wider public sector) reform should be a priority if the government is to deliver on its promises.
5. Voters think the government should listen more to women – and less to journalists
Respondents also thought that government should bring a wider range of groups into decision making. In particular, they said that government should listen to women (+48% net score), older people (+48%) and younger people (+39%) more. Other groups are also, on balance, seen as worth involving more in policy making, including tech experts, academics and public sector workers.
In this light, the recently announced drive to introduce more secondments in central government from both the tech sector and frontline services is a positive step. But as the barriers to bringing external expertise into government remain too high, more may still need to be done.
The voices which voters thought government should listen to least were those of journalists (-40%). Effective communication is of course important for government to run smoothly – but most respondents seemed to think that government pays too much attention to the media.
The polling summarises the key challenges for the government this year
Our exclusive polling revealed some of the key difficulties the government will grapple with as it enters its first full calendar year in office. But it should also help clarify what it could do to regain public trust. If ministers can make significant progress on the cost of living, the NHS and the economy over the next 12 months, the backdrop to the IfG’s next annual conference may feel different – and more comfortable – for the government.
- Keywords
- General election New government Government reform Civil service reform Complex policy problems
- Political party
- Labour
- Administration
- Starmer government
- Tracker
- Whitehall Monitor
- Publisher
- Institute for Government