According to a poll published Monday, around half of the backers of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party support renationalizing the country’s energy sector. This is because rising energy prices are putting pressure on household budgets.
There has been a growing demand for the government to do more to assist Britons with their energy bills. These are expected to rise 80% to an average cost of £3,549 pounds ($4,140) per year starting October, as wholesale gasoline prices reach record highs.
According to a YouGov poll, 47% of people who plan to vote Conservative in the next election favour returning energy companies to public ownership. 28% opposed and 25% unconfirmed.
53% of those who voted in the Conservatives’ last election in 2019 backed renationalization.
More than 30 years ago, Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Prime Minister of Britain privatized Britain’s energy providers. Although the Labour Party had previously called for renationalization, Keir Starmer, the current leader of the party, stated that the money should be used to reduce people’s monthly bills.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is the frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson in the race to be the prime minister. She said that she prefers tax cuts over direct payments to address the cost-of-living crisis.
YouGov’s poll on Tuesday and Wednesday, just before the regulator announced the latest increase in energy bills, showed that 55% of respondents said that they would have to reduce their heating or reduce its use in the next few months.
The survey also revealed that 21% of respondents said they wouldn’t be able to heat their homes “except on a very limited basis” and 5% didn’t believe they could afford to heat their homes.
