Tory members vote for the most impressive and most disappointing Coalition policies
By Tim Montgomerie
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More than 1,500 Tory members were asked to rate Coalition policies as impressive or disappointing. the numbers below capture the result of those voting impressive minus those voting disappointed:
- Making work pay for the unemployed: 81.8% - 5.8% = 76.0%
- Abolition of ID cards: 81.9% - 9.0% = 72.9%
- Elimination of the deficit by the end of the parliament: 77.4% - 9.1% = 68.3%
- Freeze in council tax: 74.8% - 7.4% = 67.4%
- More school academies and free schools: 73.0% - 9.1% = 63.9%
- Lower corporation tax: 71.0% - 9.2% = 61.8%
- Higher income tax thresholds: 68.2% - 12.8% = 55.4%
- Higher basic state pension for all: 64.7% - 11% = 53.7%
- All overseas aid to be transparent: 61.3% - 16% = 45.3%
- More freedoms for local councils: 58.5% - 13.8% = 44.7%
- Reducing immigration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands: 62.2% - 23.4% = 38.8%
- Cancer drugs fund: 50.1% - 13.9% = 36.2%
- Encouragement of charitable giving: 44.0% - 22.2% = 21.8%
- Reform of tuition fees: 41.3% - 26.6% = 14.7%
- Four million extra third world children to be vaccinated: 40.8% - 30.7% = 10.1%
- NHS reforms: 38.5% - 31.2% = 7.3%
- Elected police chiefs: 38.9% - 34.5% = 4.4%
- Protecting NHS funding: 36.3% - 34.3% = 2.3%
- High speed rail: 29.8% - 45.6% = -15.8%
- Operations in Libya: 27.5% - 46.6% = -19.1%
- The Green Deal to encourage energy conservation: 15.4% - 57.3% = -41.9%
- Green investment Bank: 12.5% - 61.2% = -48.7%
- Increasing the overseas aid budget: 15.0% - 70.7% = -55.7%
- Welfare reform - as with the public at large - remains the Government's most popular policy.
- Doorstep-friendly policies on council tax and the basic state pension are well-supported.
- The immigration policy is surprisingly middle table; perhaps because members doubt that it will be achieved.
- Some flagship and controversial Coalition policies such as elected police chiefs and HS2 have divided Tory members.
- Green policies are largely opposed by members.
- Members support some of the components of the aid policy, including transparency and vaccination but the overall spending on development is the least popular policy.
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