New polling from Ipsos MORI finds that 49% of people aged 18-75 in Britain think it is unlikely that the Government currently have an exit strategy to end the coronavirus lockdown. Almost as many, 45%, think the Government is likely to have a plan, but only one in ten believe it is very likely. Unsurprisingly there is a clear partisan divide: almost six in ten (57%) of Conservative voters think it likely the government has an exit strategy, but only one in three (35%) of Labour voters.

The majority (60%) of people say they would be more prepared to stay in lockdown for prolonged period, if they knew what the Government’s exit plan was. Young people are particularly likely to agree – 66% of 18-34s say they would be more prepared to stay in, compared with 55% of 55-75 year olds. Views on communicating this plan though are a bit more mixed - 43% say they think the Government does not need to share the plan with the public at this time, although 36% disagree. However, if the Government does not yet have a plan 59% think it should be honest and say so. Again there are political differences here – Conservative voters are twice as likely as Labour voters to say the Government does not need to share its exit strategy with the public (by 61% to 31%).

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI, says:

“The British public are split on whether the Government currently has an exit strategy to get the country out of lockdown (with the Conservatives’ own supporters more confident), but the majority (especially young people) claim that we would be more prepared to stay in lockdown for a prolonged period if we knew what the exit plan would be in the future – although remember these are just perceptions at this stage. These findings do suggest that the Government could secure support for continuing the lockdown further, but they would also need to provide some reassurance that they have a plan for the future.”

Technical note:

Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,085 British adults aged 18-75. Interviews were conducted via Ipsos MORI's online omnibus between 17 - 20 April 2020. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.