A new WeThink poll shows the majority of voters are worried about the personal financial costs of achieving Net Zero in the UK, even though they agree it’s an important issue. 

The pollsters took a deep dive into the thoughts of Brits after the Government announced a five-year delay to planned bans on new petrol and diesel cars and gas boilers. 

More than half of voters said they are concerned about the potential costs of Net Zero on their households and that the Government should subsidise some of those costs. 

The majority of voters also said it was important for the Government to stick to its climate commitments, but agreed with the delays announced this week. 

The poll also found that more than two thirds of voters (64%) trust Labour to protect and improve the environment more than the Conservatives (36%), while nearly half said they don’t believe the Government is serious about its Net Zero commitments.

The poll’s key findings were: 

Labour was more trusted (64%) than the Conservatives (36%) to protect and improve the environment 

• 53% agreed they were worried about the personal financial impact of Net Zero, with only 12% disagreeing. 34% said neither 
• 55% agreed the Government should subsidise any associated costs. Only 11% disagreed. 34% said neither 
• 59% agreed with the Government’s five-year delay on some key 2030 Net Zero targets on new petrol and diesel cars with only 24% disagreeing. 17% didn’t know. 
• That said, 56% agreed that it was important the Government stuck to its Net Zero commitments. 15% disagreed and 29% said neither. 
• Nearly half (46%) said the current Government doesn’t take its Net Zero commitments seriously, with 37% saying it does and 17% don’t know. 
• 41% agreed Net Zero is important to voters, 20% disagreed and 39% said neither, while 58% agreed that the ‘climate crisis is important to me’, 16% disagreed and 26% said neither.

ON VOTER INTENTION 

In our regular weekly voter intention trackers, Labour’s lead remains at 17 points, the Prime Minister’s net approval score continues to get better, while Sir Keir Starmer’s falls to 0 for the first time. 

ON PRIME MINISTER APPROVAL

ON SIR KEIR STARMER APPROVAL

ON BEST PRIME MINISTER

ON BREXIT SENTIMENT (all respondents)

ON BREXIT SENTIMENT (excluding don't know / won't vote)

This week’s poll was conducted on 21^st – 22^nd September 2023, questioned 1,313 people and is weighted to a national representative population. 

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