THE Conservatives now trail Labour by 26 per cent heading into the New Year, a new poll reveals today.

And the People Polling for GB News findings also show the public has hardly any confidence that Rishi Sunak and his Cabinet will reduce the cost of living burden in 2023.

The poll* of 1,169 Brits reveals:

Labour is on 45% of the national vote, the Conservative Party is down to 19%, the Liberal Democrats on 8%, the Greens on 9% and Reform on 8%. This represents a three-point fall for Conservative, increasing the gap between the two parties to 26 points.

Asked about how confident people that the government can reduce the cost of living in 2023, only 4% said they were ‘completely’ or ‘fairly’ confident. Seventy per cent of the public is not confident at all. Among Conservative voters, 53% say they are not confident at all, whereas the number is 90% among Labour voters. Only two per cent of Conservative voters are completely confident the government can reduce the cost of living in 2023.

When asked whether 2023 will be better or worse than 2022 for their own and their family’s financial situation, a majority of the public, 60 percent, think 2023 will be worse than the last year.

When asked about the word that first comes to mind when thinking about the year ahead in Britain, the five most popular terms are “difficult”, “tough”, “challenging”, “bleak”, and “worrying”

Commenting Professor Matt Goodwin said: “This is more bad news for Rishi Sunak and his team. The party’s recovery has not just stalled but now appears to be going backwards. Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party begin 2023 in prime position, with more than enough

support for a majority at the next general election. Whatever Rishi Sunak does next,

he’d better do it quick because the clock is now ticking, and he and his party are well

behind”.

On the cost of living struggles he added: “These are difficult numbers for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative government ahead of what looks set to be the last full year before the next general election”, said Professor Matt Goodwin. “Not only has the Conservative government lost ownership of the economy but it is also not seen to be likely to bring down the cost of living. Voters are clearly pessimistic about their future prospects too, with most of them expecting their financial situation to worsen over the year ahead. This speaks to the wider mood of pessimism in the country”