Chancellor George Osborne misses approval rating as faith in UK economy slides

Britain is losing its faith in the chancellor George Osborne as he is readying for the annual budget in the midst of global challenges facing the nation's economy. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos Mori, the approval rating of the chancellor dropped to minus 6, his fist negative score from 2013. The approval score of Prime Minister David Cameron also fell to minus 15.

The survey report showed that nearly 40% of people are pleased with the leadership of George Osborne, a fall of 4% from July. But, still the majority of party members supports him and George Osborne remains their favourite chancellor. The poll also showed that 75% of defendants are pleased with his work procedure.

The poll results comes some days before George Osborne submits his annual budget amid poor crude prices and deep slowdown in China's economy. Nearly 44% of defendants believe Britain's economy to deteriorate in 2017. Osborne's annual budget is expected to miss the 2016 budget deficit saving target.  Osborne frequently stressed on the need for seriousness to achieve growth in the economic portfolio within the decade end, as reported by Bloomberg.

According to Gideon Skinner, the leader of the political research department at Ipsos Mori, the level of confidence in Britain's economy has been weakened in recent times. But, Osborne still remains ahead of John McDonnell, his Labour Party counterpart. He is still a favourite leader for many people other than the youngsters. According to the poll, just 29% people selected John McDonnell to be their next chancellor, while 46% voted for George Osborne. The survey conducted by Ipsos Mori questioned 1,001 adults through telephone.

According to the Mirror, the Tories have poured nearly £5 million of people money on advertising for Osborne's "National Living Wage" campaign. The Liberal Democrats are seeking to file a complaint to the Election Commission against the ads. The business department of UK campaign involved TV ads worth at £1.7 million and poster ads worth over £750,000. The net advertisement budget of £4.95 million could envelope the annual pays of 372 people.

The National Living Wage, which is £7.20 minimum rate per hour, applies only to workers who are 25 years old and above. The new Living Wage theory is lower than the real Living Wage in London that is set at £9.40 per hour. A spokesman for the government department of business said that the workers must be aware of their rights in the fresh National Living Wage policy and that the bosses pay the new wage of £7.20 starting from Aril 2016.

MarketWatch quoted an official data, which said that Osborne borrowed £66.5 billion during the period April and January to bridge the gap between income and government expenditure. In November, the 'Office for Budget Responsibility' expected that Osborne will borrow a sum of £73.5 billion to make economic adjustments.

Weak economic conditions coupled with fall in oil prices prevented the UK finance minister to reach his election targets. But, still George Osborne remains a favourite leader among his supporters.