Although slight, there may be signs that opinion is in fact starting to worsen: in July 2000, 82% of SMEs felt that the present government was doing "less or the same" as the previous administration. The corresponding figures for October 2000 and January 2001 were 88% and 85% respectively.

Despite this, the current findings also show that the proportion of small businesses who feel that the government is "doing less" to address the needs of small businesses than 12 months ago has decreased. Just under four in 10 feel that the government is doing less now than a year ago (38% compared with 45% in October 2000).

In light of the Cruickshank Report, small businesses were asked who they thought offered the most practical support in making their company successful, the government or their bank. An overwhelming 70% feel their bank offered the most practical support, and only 17% voted in favour of the government. One in 10 cannot choose between the two.

According to Tony Smith, Director of Taylor Nelson Sofres Finance, "Our findings over the last nine months suggest that the government may well struggle to find support from the small business community in the upcoming election. These results reflect opinion prior to the outbreak of foot and mouth – it will be interesting to see how opinion is affected when we run the next wave of research."

Finance Line is a quarterly small business survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres Finance, the specialist financial division of Taylor Nelson Sofres.