New polling shows the public back Gove, not the NUT, over strikes and paying teachers by performance

By Mark Wallace
Follow Mark on Twitter.

New polling released today by Populus provides further evidence of quite how out of touch the teaching unions have become.

A total of 70% of the public are opposed to the NUT and NASUWT's planned strikes - 36% oppose this strike specifically, while a further 34% think teachers should be banned entirely from striking. Only 29% support the strike action.

There's further bad news for the unions on the policy front - 61% of the public support a performance-based pay model for teachers, with only 28% backing the current system.

These figures represent a comprehensive defeat for the left-wing teaching establishment, which may help to explain the low turnouts for their strike ballots. Despite the protestations of the union leaders and various media commentators, it turns out that Gove has popular support for the key issues on which he is challenging them.

They will find it harder and harder for his opponents to continue their hardline opposition to him without the support or even tolerance of parents and voters. How long before they crumble outright?