Not a single Labour candidate questioned by a major polling company mentioned the deficit as being one of the biggest issues facing Britain . Ipsos Mori interviewed almost 100 candidates from the major parties , asking them what they thought the most important issues facing the country were . Not one Labour candidate listed the government spending or the deficit ; compared to 35 per cent of Tory candidates . In an IpsosMori survey of people standing for election , not one of Ed Miliband 's Labour candidates named the deficit as an important issue facing the country . 35 per cent of Tories mentioned the deficit , 5 % of Lib Dems and 9 per cent of those surveyed standing for the Scottish National Party . Among the Liberal Democrats , 5 per cent mentioned the deficit as an issue ; and even among the left-wing SNP , it was brought up by 9 per cent of candidates . The omission recalls Ed Miliband ’ s embarrassing gaffe in which he completely forgot an entire passage about the deficit from his conference speech last year . The issue of Britain ’ s relationship with the EU was also not mentioned by a single Labour candidate . Unlike David Cameron , Mr Miliband is not pledging any renegotiation of powers or a referendum on EU membership . Pollsters from Ipsos Mori asked 98 candidates to list what they thought were the biggest issues . They could mention anything they liked – there were no promptings . The top issue for all parties was the economy , mentioned by 85 per cent of Conservative and Lib Dem candidates but only 62 per cent of Labour ones . For Labour , the economy tied with health and the NHS as the main issue . It was mentioned by 62 per cent of candidates , compared with 65 per cent for the Lib Dems and 54 per cent of Tories . The next most important issues for Labour were ‘ inequality ’ ( mentioned by 24 per cent of candidates ) , housing ( 21 per cent ) , and then jobs , immigration and education ( all tied on 14 per cent ) . For Tory candidates , the third most important issue was spending and the deficit ( 35 per cent ) , jobs ( 31 per cent ) , education ( 27 per cent ) and the relationship with the EU ( 19 per cent ) . No Conservative candidates mentioned inequality , housing or the impact of austerity . The economy and the NHS were the most frequently mentioned issues among the three main parties . Immigration , housing and international ties were the least likely to be mentioned by candidates . Austerity was the most important issue for the SNP ( 64 per cent ) , while surprisingly only 3 per cent of Labour candidates mentioned it . The survey , unveiled at a briefing by Ipsos Mori , was based on interviews with 98 candidates , including 26 Tories , 29 Labour and 20 Lib Dems . The briefing pointed out that the last time an opposition party was elected with an overall majority after just a single parliament out of office – the goal of Labour – was in 1931 . It said that a leader had never been elected prime minister with such low ratings as Mr Miliband . But it also pointed out that the last time a governing party increased its votes hare after more than two years in office – the goal of Mr Cameron if the Tories are to govern alone – was 1955 . Meanwhile Harriet Harman has admitted that drivers could be hit with a hike in fuel duty if Labour gets into power . The deputy Labour leader refused to rule out above inflation increases in taxes on fuel , alcohol , tobacco or air fares . Asked if the party would raise the levy on petrol , she told LBC : ‘ We rule out increasing VAT , the basic or the higher rate of tax , we will put up the top rate of tax , we will not put up the national insurance rates . ‘ For all the other taxes that there are – you know , airport taxes , I can ’ t remember what they are called , airport passenger duties , or alcohol duties or tobacco or petrol – we will lay that out in the Budget. ’ It emerged that Chuka Umunna , the shadow business secretary , had called for the scrapping of the Trident nuclear deterrent . The potential leadership contender suggested that Trident should be ‘ the first to go in the round of public spending cuts to come after the general election ’ , according to a 2010 interview with Brixton Blog .
Poll of candidates asked them what were country 's biggest challenges . None from Labour named the deficit when survey by Ipsos Mori . Echoes Ed Miliband's blunder when he forgot deficit in conference speech .