Voter satisfaction with Government increases to 45%

A DRAMATIC surge in voter satisfaction with the Government’s performance has given a major boost to the Coalition’s hopes of being re-elected next year.

The number of voters saying they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the way the Fianna Fáil/PD administration is running the country has leapt to 45% — up eight points since last September.

And the amount of voters dissatisfied has dropped from 42% to 28%.

The significant increase in the “feel-good” factor will come as a relief to ministers who feared the Government was not getting the credit for the country’s strong economic performance.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen accused voters of “complacency” earlier this month when he warned that prosperity could not be taken for granted.

The pronounced increase in the Government’s satisfaction rating is bad news for opposition strategists who had hoped that the public was tiring of the coalition after more than nine years in power.

The past 12 months have also seen a concerted effort by Labour and Fine Gael to portray the Government as wasteful and drifting.

The coalition has come under sustained fire over a series of high-profile initiatives, such as the malfunctioning €160 million PPARS health service payroll system.

Opposition leaders also rounded on the Government’s “chaotic” handling of statutory rape laws crisis in May.

The findings appear to indicate the Government is well placed to mount a strong election campaign based on economic prosperity and competence.

Political analysts believe the economy to be the key concern of most voters and that people generally make up their minds about which party to support at least six months before the actual campaign begins.

There have been few examples in Western democracies in recent years where a Government presiding over a robust economy has lost power.

The Government also has the option of announcing a “giveaway” budget in December to shore-up the feel good factor.

Opposition parties may take some comfort in the fact most of the increase in the approval rating came in the “fairly satisfied” category — up from 31% to 38% and not in the “very satisfied” range, which increased marginally from 6% to 7%.

However, the number of “neutral” voters who are neither happy or disappointed with the Government’s performance also grew from 20% to 26%.

Those very dissatisfied with the coalition dropped from 20% to 15%, with voters fairly dissatisfied falling from 22% to 13%.

Unsurprisingly, FF and PD supporters registered the highest levels of satisfaction — only one-in-10 expressed any level of dissatisfaction.

Satisfaction levels were also more apparent among farmers and older age groups.