NHS tops the list of voters’ concerns

THE NHS is the main issue for the UK going into the General Election, according to exclusive data provided by Google Trends.

The data shows that healthcare was the most searched-for topic in almost two-thirds of constituencies – some 402 out of 650.

The EU and Brexit came out on top in 86 seats, while pensions was the most interesting to voters in 70 seats.

Google Trends tracked search queries across the UK from October 2016 to April 2017.

Amongst all the regions in the country, two in the north west were most concerned about healthcare.

It can be revealed that healthcare was the most searched political issue in 22 of the region’s 27 constituencies, over 80% of Manchester.

Nineteen of these 22 constituencies were represented by Labour MPs until Parliament was dissolved last month, with the other three represented by Conservatives.

Another healthcare conscious region is Merseyside. It was the most searched term in 10 of the 13 constituencies, 77% of Merseyside.

Labour have promised that the NHS will get £6bn a year extra raised from new taxes on the nation’s highest earners.

The £22bn hospital cuts programme will also be immediately halted and reviewed.

The Conservatives have pledged that NHS spending ‘will rise £8bn in real terms’ by 2022, their manifesto states. To help raise funds, the fees charged to migrants for using the NHS would be tripled.

The Tories have also stated they would introduce the first new Mental Health Bill for 30 years. DATA

Below is each issue and the number of constituencies where it came top: Healthcare/NHS – 406 EU/Brexit – 86 Pensions – 70 Religion – 37 Environment/Climate change – 14 Terrorism – 11 Refugees/ immigration – 8 Racism – 7 Economy/growth – 4 Government budget – 2 Monetary policy – 2 Unemployment – 2 Foreign policy – 1 TOTAL – 650