The third week of C+D’s election sentiment tracker ahead of the July 4 general election saw “other” parties leap in popularity among respondents to 29% from 19% last week.
The leap in “other” support in this manifesto-heavy week may be down to the launch of the Liberal Democrat’s plan for government, which contained pledges on funding that were praised by sector leaders as “excellent news”.
But if the Lib Dems’ sunny manifesto was responsible for the boost to “other” parties, then the Tory manifesto was less well received by the sector.
The incumbent party saw no bounce after its Tuesday launch, with Conservative support dwindling to just 9% of C+D readers.
The Labour Party was still the most popular party this week, preferred by 37% of the 283 responding readers.
But this lead is down four percentage points from last week’s 41% share.
The effect of the official opposition's manifesto on C+D’s readers remains to be seen as this week’s three-day poll closed an hour after Labour’s plans were released.
Read more: Plaid Cymru pushes for drug tariff reform ahead of July 4 general election
LinkedIn’s polling service limits the number of options available to four, raising a question about the composition of the ascendant “other”. C+D will run a supplementary poll on Monday (June 17) to unpack how the mysterious “other” is composed.
But the second biggest movement this week was among those who “don’t know” who they are supporting ahead of the general election, as the share of undecided people dropped to 24% from a high of 30% last week.
Be sure to add your vote on Monday as C+D’s weekly general election sentiment tracker continues into its fourth week - and vote in our supplementary poll, which will ask if your significant “other” is Lib Dem, Green, Reform, or SNP/Plaid Cymru.
What have the parties pledged so far?
Yesterday (June 13), Plaid Cymru’s wide-ranging manifesto for “a real alternative for Wales” promised drug tariff reforms and a review into the medicines supply chain “to ensure that patients get the medication that they need, when they need it” as its major community pharmacy pledges.
Labour also launched its manifesto on Thursday, leading with a promise to ease GP "pressure" by granting pharmacists more "prescribing rights" with the creation of a community pharmacist prescribing service.
Labour promised to "shift resources to primary care and community services" as it set forth a vision of the NHS becoming a "Neighbourhood Health Service".
Read more: Green Party pledges to make PrEP available in pharmacies and online
On Wednesday, the Green Party’s manifesto release saw it promise “access to the HIV prevention pill online, in pharmacies and from GP services” to “end new cases” of the disease, and a “push” for “£2bn capital investment in primary care over the next five years”.
On Tuesday, the Conservative Party revealed that it expects spending on the Pharmacy First service to increase by £250m by 2027 in its manifesto.
This came as it reiterated that the party would "expand Pharmacy First, including for menopause support, contraception and treatment for chest infections".
Read more: Lib Dems pledge 'fairer' funding and ‘more pharmacist prescribing rights’
And on Monday, the Liberal Democrat Party said that it would prioritise securing “a fairer and more sustainable long-term funding model for pharmacies” and “build on the Pharmacy First approach to give patients more accessible routine services”.
It also pledged to make prescriptions for people with chronic mental health conditions free on the NHS as part of its "commitment to review the entire schedule of exemptions for prescription charges".
