‘Unacceptable’ for MPs to accept football or concert tickets, say 64% in poll

Nearly two-thirds of people think it is to some extent “unacceptable” for MPs to accept tickets to football matches and concerts as gifts, a survey has found.

Research by YouGov released on Monday found that 44% of 4,046 people questioned thought it was “completely unacceptable” for MPs to accept such gifts, while 20% said it was “somewhat unacceptable”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Monday that she did not “begrudge” gifted tickets for football or concerts “as long as things are declared properly”.

The survey also found that 19% of people thought that taking tickets was “somewhat acceptable” and 6% said it was “completely acceptable”.

Another 11% answered “don’t know”.

Respondents were asked “do you think it is acceptable or unacceptable for MPs to accept tickets to football matches and concert tickets as gifts from donors or companies?”

Reports about free tickets and clothing for the Prime Minister and other senior Government figures provoked questions at the party’s conference in Liverpool.

Asked on Times Radio on Monday whether tickets to concerts and football matches would still be accepted, Ms Reeves said: “As long as things are declared properly, so people can see if there’s any conflict of interest, I think it’s fine to go to the football and to go to a pop concert.

“I don’t begrudge people doing that.”

Another poll released on Monday suggested there is growing dissatisfaction with Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.

Ipsos found that 62% of people were dissatisfied with the way the Government was running the country, while 54% were dissatisfied with the job the Prime Minister was doing.

A quarter (25%) were satisfied with the job the Government was doing and 33% said the same about the Prime Minister.

In July, Ipsos found that 37% of the public were satisfied with the job Sir Keir was doing.

Keiran Pedley, director of UK politics at Ipsos, said “the honeymoon appears to be over” for the Government.

“Whilst it is clearly far too early to make definitive judgments about the fate of Keir Starmer’s Government, it is also clear that he has become less popular since [become] Prime Minister,” Mr Pedley said.

Other figures from YouGov found that a third (34%) of people had a “favourable” view of the Labour Party, compared with 57% with an “unfavourable” view.

In total, 36% of people thought the Labour Party was “dishonest”. Asked to pick any from a set of descriptors that could apply, dishonesty was the most commonly selected trait, while 31% described the party as “the same as the rest” and 31% as “only interested in themselves”.

More than one in five (22%) thought the party was interested in public service, while 19% selected “fit to govern” and 16% chose “seem like normal people”.

Among people who voted Labour in July, the most commonly selected descriptor was “interested in public service”, chosen by 47%.