George Osborne's economic competence rating falls sharply after tax credit cuts debacle

The Chancellor is still higher rated than Labour, however

The Chancellor is the frontrunner to be next Tory leader (Getty)

Perceptions of George Osborne’s economic competence have taken a sharp hit since he was forced into a U-turn on plans to cut in-work state support for people in low incomes.

The Chancellor’s rating on the economy with pollster YouGov fell by 15 points between March this year and a poll conducted late last week after the Autumn Statement.

Mr Osborne is still favoured by the public compared to Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell, however.

In a forced choice between Mr McDonnell and his counterpart 38 per cent of people said they would prefer Mr Osborne and 20 per cent said Mr McDonnell. 42 per cent said they did not know.

This gap is slightly smaller between the two politicians than it was when Ed Balls was shadow chancellor.

Labour’s economic ratings under Jeremy Corbyn and Mr McDonnell have improved very slightly compared to under Ed Miliband and Ed Balls but still remain low.

23 per cent of people say Labour would make the right decisions about the state of the economy, compared to 22 per cent who said they would when the same question was asked in March 2014.

John McDonnell has so far failed to close the gap with the Tories on economic competence (BBC)

However, the total gap between Labour and the Tories has increased, with 40 per cent saying the Tories would make the right decisions compared to 35 per cent a year and a half ago.

33 per cent of the public say Mr Osborne is doing a good job as Chancellor compared to 33 per cent in March, while 44 per cent say he is doing a bad job compared to 36 per cent in March.

Mr Osborne’s personal ratings could be crucial in the 2020 election because he is the favourite to succeed David Cameron as Tory leader, who is widely expected to step down.

Perceived conomic competence is thought to be one of the major yardsticks by which politicians and political parties are judged by voters.

The Chancellor was forced into a U-turn on plans to cut tax credits for low income families in work after he was defeated in the House of Lords by unelected peers.

Other contenders for the top job in the Conservative party include Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid, and Liam Fox.