Survey finds public support for local lockdowns

A new YouGov survey has found that people in every county of England and Wales are prepared by overwhelming majorities to support local lockdowns if coronavirus flares up in their area.

Many of the restrictions imposed during local lockdowns, in areas such as Manchester, Leicester and Luton, have been withdrawn after signs of success in preventing spread of the infection. Many local leaders say that lockdowns must be respected and lifting them should not be done lightly.

The poll suggests that the public support this mentality, with only a minority of adults anywhere in the country saying that they would ‘oppose’ or ‘strongly oppose’ local lockdowns if they were called in their areas.

Highest levels of opposition were recorded in the City of London (33 per cent), Pembrokeshire and Swansea (both 24 per cent) and West Yorkshire (18 per cent).

However, in every part of the country, majorities said they would ‘support’ or ‘strongly support’ a local lockdown, with a clear majority saying they would strongly support the measures in all but five counties. Highest levels of ‘strong support’ for local lockdowns were found in Northumberland (78 per cent), Cheshire (68 per cent) and East Sussex (66 per cent).

Connor Ibbetson, research manager at YouGov, said: “New YouGov research shows that most adults in England are in strong support of a local lockdown in their area, were there to be an increase of local cases. Following the introduction of local lockdown measures in Leicester, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and other areas, support to take these extra steps in order to keep the level of coronavirus infection at bay is widespread. The county with the highest number of residents that strongly support a lock lockdown is Northumberland, while the City of Bristol is the most likely to be strongly opposed.”