With regard to taxation in general, 38 per cent said the government should lower taxes, compared to 37 per cent who would prefer to see taxes maintained at their current level, while 13 per cent wanted a tax rise and 11 per cent did not know.

Mr Van Scheltinga said: “Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has defended the coming increase in National Insurance contributions on the need to avoid burdening future generations with Government debt.

“Yet, it is the young, living on their lower salaries, who most desire lower taxes and who are most opposed to this coming tax increase, which is intended to fund a benefit, social care, that they are unlikely to use anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, 54 per cent of respondents overall, and 52 per cent of 2019 Conservative voters, said they had a more negative view of Mr Johnson since he became Prime Minister, compared to 6 per cent who said their view was more positive. The proportion who disagreed that Mr Johnson was “trustworthy” was 69 per cent, up from 16 per cent in November. 

Approval of the Government’s handling of 13 policy areas, including defence, the economy, Brexit and the NHS, has also decreased significantly in the last three months.

The Conservatives are now the party of tax increases

By Philip van Scheltinga

The Conservative Party has become the party of tax increases when the public is more anti-tax than ever. That is the unmistakable conclusion of our polling conducted this week for The Sunday Telegraph, in which a clear majority of members of the public say they now associate the Conservative Party with raising taxes, not lowering taxes.

Most strikingly, the party that pledged no increases in income tax, VAT, or national insurance is associated with raising taxes by nearly half of its own voters. Just 1 in 5 of those who voted Conservative in 2019 associate the party with lowering taxes.

These figures come at a time when the public generally wants lower taxes. 38 per cent say the Government should lower taxes, up from 28 per cent in October, while just 13 per cent say taxes should be raised.

And, with the public facing a cost-of-living crisis, it is easy to understand why 4 in 10 are now expecting their finances to worsen in the next three months, and three-quarters of the public say they taken steps to reduce their spending in the past month.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has defended the coming increase in National Insurance contributions on the need to avoid burdening future generations with Government debt. Yet, it is the young, living on their lower salaries, who most desire lower taxes and who are most opposed to this coming tax increase, which is intended to fund a benefit, social care, that they are unlikely to use anytime soon.

And, for the price of their historical reputation on lower taxes, what have the Conservatives gained?

Immediately following the 2019 General Election, the Conservative Party has misguidedly and vainly attempted to gain public favour for its NHS policies. “The NHS is this one-nation Conservative Government’s top priority,” Boris Johnson declared in his election speech victory.

The desire to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, a relative strength for the Labour Party was clear and well-intentioned yet lacked any sense of realism. Our polling finds that, after immigration, disapproval for Boris Johnson’s Government is highest on the NHS, while supporting the NHS continues to be the area where voters trust the Labour Party far more than any other party.