Who do you trust more with the economy, Sunak or Starmer? Here's what Yahoo readers think

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

Yahoo News UK readers trust the Conservative Party more with the economy than Labour, according to a poll.

The results come despite controversy surrounding Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday.

The Chancellor had claimed his Autumn Statement delivered the biggest tax cut in 35 years,.

But experts have pointed out that in fact the tax burden overall is rising, with households paying more in general.

Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said the tax burden was going up "to its highest level in the post-war era" and warned that Hunt’s spending plans suggest there will have to be “sharp cuts” to some public services in the years ahead.

The Resolution Foundation think tank, which focuses on improving living standards for those on low to middle incomes, said UK households are set to be £1,900 poorer at the end of this parliament compared to the beginning.

Yahoo News UK asked our readers who they trust more with the economy, here are the results:-

Our poll from Monday at midday until midday Thursday asked: ‘Who do you trust more with the economy?’

It received 20,636 votes and showed that more readers trust the Tories than Labour when it comes to the economy.

Some 52% of voters picked ‘the Conservative Party’, compared to 36% who voted for Labour, while 12% said they were undecided.

Yahoo News UK readers were also asked: ‘How strongly do you feel about the difference in their abilities?’.

This poll received 9,571 votes with the most common vote being 10/10, indicating many readers felt extremely strongly about a difference in ability between the two leaders.

The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 7.6.

Sunak vs Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer accused the government of trying to "spin" the budget delivered on Wednesday.

The Labour leader said: "whichever way the Government tried to spin the autumn statement, the reality is that living standards are dropping, the tax burden is going up and that disposable income at the end of this government is going to be less than it was at the beginning for ordinary working people."

He added that his party would face "tough choices" if it wins the next general election, due to "13 years of failure" by the Conservative Party.

Rishi Sunk has previously attacked Starmer's economic approach, comparing his plans to those of his predecessor Liz Truss.

The Prime Minister said Starmer wanted to continue a similar “big government, big spending approach”, pointing to Labour's £28bn green business plan.

Sunk said: “This makes the same economic mistake as last year’s mini-budget, blowing tens of billions of pounds on unfunded spending is just as dangerous as blowing tens of billions of pounds on unfunded tax cuts.”

This poll has now closed