Blow for Rishi Sunak as voters fail to give him credit for inflation drop

Voters are more likely to believe the Bank of England is responsible for bringing price hikes back under control, a poll found

Reacting to July’s drop in inflation, Rishi Sunak said ‘the plan is working’ (Downing Street)

Rishi Sunak is not getting the credit for falling inflation despite it being his top pledge to voters, a poll has found.

Instead, voters are more likely to believe the Bank of England is responsible for bringing price hikes back under control.

A YouGov poll for The Times found that just 8 per cent of voters believe government policy led to the drop in inflation last month.

Meanwhile, 17 per cent of voters believe the Bank’s relentless series of interest rate hikes brought inflation down.

The rate of inflation fell to 6.8 per cent in July, down from 7.9 per cent in June and 10.1 per cent in January, official figures show.

The drop came as the Bank of England hiked interest rates 14 times from 0.25 per cent 18 months ago to 5.25 per cent today. The Bank’s increases have led to criticism over the impact of higher rates for mortgages and other borrowing.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has claimed the government is “working in lockstep” with the central bank to meet the PM’s pledge of halving inflation this year.

He highlighted the government is pursuing “responsible public spending, holding down energy bills, removing barriers to work and freezing fuel duty” to slow the rate of price increases.

And Mr Sunak reacted to last month’s fall in inflation by claiming “the plan is working”.

“If we stick to the plan I’ve set out, we’ll get it done,” he said.

But, despite the Bank forecasting Mr Sunak is on track to meet his target, the poll results will be a blow to the PM. And even among Conservative voters, just 12 per cent cited government policy as responsible for the drop.

The YouGov poll suggested that the most common reason voters believe inflation has dropped is external factors such as falling global oil and gas prices.

More than a third of the public said external factors were responsible, while 31 per cent said they did not know why inflation was easing.

Despite the drop, inflation still remains more than triple the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target, meaning a continued squeeze on household budgets.

The poll also showed voters overwhelmingly expect to get worse off in the next 12 months, spelling trouble for Tory hopes ahead of a general election expected next year.

Just 15 per cent of those asked told YouGov they expected to feel better off this time next year, while three times as many said they would feel poorer.

And, in a boost for Labour, the gap between Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Sunak on who would make a better PM widened. More than a third opted for Sir Keir, while less than a quarter of those polled said they would prefer Mr Sunak.