Pollster Find Out Now and election experts Electoral Calculus have run a poll on behalf of the Daily Telegraph on Israel/Gaza and public demonstrations. This poll, involving 2,001 respondents, was carried out on 9 November 2023.
Firstly, we asked our panel "Do you generally support or oppose pro-Palestine marches in Britain?"
| Response | All respondents |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 12% |
| Support | 12% |
| Neither support nor oppse | 25% |
| Oppose | 13% |
| Strongly oppose | 20% |
| Don't know | 19% |
| Net Support | 23% |
| Net Oppose | 33% |
(Excludes those who declined to answer.)
While 33% opposed, and 23% supported, 44% of people were either neutral or undecided.
Next, we asked our panel "Do you think the planned pro-Palestine march in London this Saturday (Remembrance Day) should be allowed to go ahead or not?"
| Response | All respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Should be allowed | 26% | 43% | 16% |
| Should not be allowed | 52% | 29% | 71% |
| Don't know | 22% | 29% | 13% |
(Excludes those who declined to answer.)
Just over half of those who answered did not think the Saturday march in London should be allowed to go ahead. There was a clear difference by age, with young people net positive about it, and older people very much against.
Next, we asked our panel "How well or badly do you think Rishi Sunak has handled the situation in Israel and Gaza?"
| Response | All respondents | CON voters | LAB voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very well | 2% | 4% | 1% |
| Quite well | 7% | 16% | 2% |
| Neither well nor badly | 25% | 37% | 16% |
| Quite badly | 15% | 11% | 22% |
| Very badly | 21% | 9% | 41% |
| Don't know | 30% | 22% | 19% |
| Net well | 9% | 20% | 3% |
| Net badly | 36% | 20% | 63% |
(Excludes those who declined to answer.)
More people think the Prime Minister has handled it badly than think he has handled it well. Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, opinion is balanced. Labour voters are strongly negative.
Next, we asked our panel "How well or badly do you think Keir Starmer has handled the situation in Israel and Gaza?"
| Response | All respondents | CON voters | LAB voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very well | 1% | 1% | 3% |
| Quite well | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Neither well nor badly | 23% | 28% | 24% |
| Quite badly | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Very badly | 21% | 24% | 25% |
| Don't know | 33% | 22% | 24% |
| Net well | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Net badly | 38% | 43% | 43% |
(Excludes those who declined to answer.)
Keir Starmer's performance is also not appreciated by the public. In his case, both Conservative and Labour voters are united in thinking that he has handled it badly.
Finally, we asked our panel "Do you agree or disagree that Israel has the right to defend itself with military actions in Gaza?"
| Response | All respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agree strongly | 18% | 10% | 32% |
| Agree | 29% | 16% | 40% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 16% | 18% | 13% |
| Disagree | 8% | 12% | 6% |
| Disagree strongly | 7% | 16% | 2% |
| Don't know | 23% | 29% | 7% |
| Net agree | 46% | 25% | 72% |
| Net disagree | 15% | 28% | 8% |
(Excludes those who declined to answer.)
Forty-six per cent of people agree that Israel has the right of self-defence, with only 15% disagreeing. Thirty-nine per cent were neutral or undecided. But among younger voters, the question was finely balanced with both sides almost equal. Among older voters, there was a very strong majority for supporting Israel.
Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus: "The poll shows the public is not supportive of the pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday. People are also fairly supportive of the Israel's right to self-defence, which is the policy of both Conservative and Labour parties. Despite that, the public also think both party leaders have handled the situation poorly. Keir Starmer might be concerned that even Labour voters think he has done a bad job."
Find Out Now polled 2,001 GB adults online on 9 November 2023. The sample was weighted to be representative by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns. Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
Data tables are available here.