Conservative Conference 2014: British Public Bash Cameron over 'Bad' NHS and Immigration Management

The British public think Prime Minister David Cameron's management of the NHS and immigration into the UK has been bad for Britain, according to a poll by ComRes for ITV.

The survey, which questioned more than 2,000 people between 26 and 28 September, found more than six out of ten (65%) of respondents thought the Conservative Party's actions and the policies on immigration into the UK has been bad.

The research also revealed a majority (57%) of people said Cameron's management of the NHS has been bad for Britain.

The figures will be a blow to the prime minister ahead of his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham and less than seven months until the 2015 General Election in May.

Cameron is expected to announce in his speech that a Conservative government would ring fence NHS spending for another five years.

"The NHS is a big issue at the next election," Tom Mludzinski, head of political polling at ComRes, told IBTimes UK.

"We know from our issue trackers that it's in the top three [of important issues for voters]. It's important for [Cameron] to tackle the NHS issue, particularly as the party has got a pretty bad reputation.

"As the poll shows, the Conservative record on the NHS is not seen favourably by the public. I guess Cameron is trying to turn that image around."

Mludzinski also explained that the publics' views on the Conservatives management of immigration into the UK was "very damaging" to the party.

"Immigration is traditionally a strong point for the Conservatives, it tends to be a right-of-centre issue, which the Tories do well on," Mludzinski said.

"But with the rise of Ukip, [Nigel Farage's party] are now the party most trusted on immigration and it is one of the most important issues that people want the government to get hold of."

When IBTimes UK asked Mludzinski if he thought Ukip had taken the mantle of managing immigration from the Tories, the pollster said "by quite some margin".

The comments come after the Office for National Statistics revealed that net long-term migration to the UK rocketed to 243,000 in the year to March, up by 68,000 when compared with last year.

The prime minister had previously pledged to cut net migration to less than 100,000 by 2015.

The latest ComRes survey had Labour six points in the polls ahead of the general election (Lab 35%, Con 29%, Ukip 19%, Ldem 7%, Grns 4%).