Forty per cent of Brits ‘failed to name chancellor’
Thirty-nine per cent of British adults cannot name the chancellor, a new survey claims.
A poll of more than 2,000 adults found that 33 per cent of Scots could not name Gordon Brown as head of the Treasury, despite him being a fellow countryman.
Of the third who could not name Mr Brown, 18 per cent thought deputy prime minister John Prescott was chancellor, four per cent named Tory leader Michael Howard and some even suggested ex-BBC boss Greg Dyke for the role.
However, the survey found that almost forty per cent of Britons failed to name Mr Brown.
A total of 43 per cent of the Welsh adults surveyed by accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward could not name the chancellor and almost half (47 per cent) of people in the north of England could not identify Mr Brown correctly.
The poll, carried out last month, also found that sixty per cent of Scots did not know what percentage of basic tax they paid on earnings and 62 per cent did not believe that Wednesday’s Budget would have any real impact on their finances.
Sandy Knox, tax partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, said: “It’s interesting to see just how little people know about their own tax contributions.
“The Budget is the single most important financial event in the British calendar, and I’d urge the public to pay close attention to the impact the chancellor’s speech has on them, otherwise they may lose out.”
Mr Brown unveils his annual Budget this week and is expected to focus on tackling the problem of affordable housing in the UK, as the housing boom continues.
