Healthcare may trump Brexit in battle for British vote

WINTER CRISIS?

The face of a "Leave" campaign which promised to spend the money Britain sends to the EU on the NHS instead, Johnson's message to voters is he would deliver Brexit so Britain can move on to focus on priorities such as health, education and policing.

"BackBoris for more NHS funding so that you and your family get the care you need," the Conservatives said on Twitter, as Johnson visited a hospital on his first day of campaigning. He has done at least 9 hospital visits since taking office in July.

During one such visit he was confronted by a Labour activist and father of a sick child, who said the care his baby daughter had received had not been acceptable and that the health service had been destroyed by the Conservatives.

The NHS led two newspaper front pages on Thursday, with the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror splashing: "Election warning: Boris and Trump plot NHS sell-off", while the pro-Conservative Daily Mail read: "Poll: Boris more trusted than Corbyn on NHS".

Created by a Labour government in 1948, the NHS is one of the biggest employers in the world and in 2019-20 is due to account for 166 billion pounds ($215.04 billion), or around 20 percent, of Britain's annual public spending.

It has traditionally been strong ground for Labour, with polls usually showing them as more trusted on the NHS. A December election, Britain's first winter vote since 1923, could play to that strength.

Pressure on the NHS increases during the winter months, adding to public concern and fuelling newspaper headlines about the annual "NHS winter crisis".

"Most years you see a spike in the issues tracker for the NHS in the winter months as you get stories about winter crisis, waiting times going up," said Chris Curtis, Political Research Manager at polling firm YouGov.

YouGov's latest research showed 32 percent of voters viewed Labour as best able to handle the NHS, versus 26 percent for the Conservatives. In contrast, just 9 percent believed Labour was best on Brexit, compared to 24 percent for the Conservatives.

"It is much better for Labour to be focusing on the NHS than it is for them to be focusing on Brexit," said Curtis. "It is very likely that that could end up helping Labour in this campaign."

Many opinion polls give Johnson's Conservatives a double digit lead over Labour, but it is early days in a six-week campaign.

At the last snap election, in 2017, Johnson's predecessor Theresa May saw her party's large poll lead all but evaporate during the campaign, ultimately losing her small majority in parliament on election day.

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