Here’s why Labour is winning the General Election poster war
The first week of 2015 was a flurry of political activity with the three major parties firing the starting gun on the General Election.
The Tories kicked things off launching their first election poster. The message, unsurprisingly, focused on what the Conservatives believe to be their strongest card – the economy. The poster said there 1.75m more people in work since 2010 and claimed the deficit had been halved.
David Cameron implored voters to stick with his long-term economic plan and warned a Labour government would usher in economic "chaos". Labour hit back with a poster on their signature issue of the NHS.
The poster featured an air-brushed picture of David Cameron from older Conservative poster with the caption "The NHS as you know it cannot survive five more years of David Cameron".
After a week of heavy media coverage and intense debate, polling company YouGov may have the answer as to who drew first blood. Almost half of people agree with the statement "the NHS as you know it cannot survive five more years of David Cameron".
This compares with just 24 per cent of people who believe the government has halved the deficit during its time in office. The claim of halving the budget deficit has been hotly contested by commentators. In cash terms, the deficit has been cut by a third, but if measured as a proportion of GDP the Tory claim is accurate.
In what may prove further bad news for David Cameron, 42 per cent of the public believes the "Tories want to cut spending on public services back to the levels of the 1930s". Only a third of people agreed with the central point of this week's Conservative press conference, which featured five cabinet ministers, that Labour had made £20bn of unfunded spending commitments.
Labour's lead on the NHS could become an even greater threat to the Tories as health bumps up voters' lists of major concerns. According to YouGov's issues tracker poll for the Sun, health has climbed 13 per cent as one of the top priorities for voters.