BORIS Johnson is the most popular Prime Minister since the 2019 Election, a new poll indicates.
A People Polling for GB News poll* saw one in four Brits – 26% – opt for Mr Johnson while 15% said Rishi Sunak. Just 2% picked Liz Truss, who attempted to defend her Premiership in a new interview this week.
The polling found 21% preferred not to say and 36% – over a third – didn’t know who the best PM had been.
Backing for Boris was even higher among Tory voters. When polled, 52% of Tories said Boris Johnson, 18% picked Rishi Sunak, and only 2% opted for Liz Truss.
Commenting on the findings, politics expert Professor Matt Goodwin said: “These results show how Boris Johnson is still seen by a significant number of voters, including more than half of all Conservatives, as their favourite prime minister since the 2019 general election. The fact that Rishi Sunak is so far behind Boris Johnson among 2019 Conservatives, the very voters he needs to win back, will no doubt be ringing alarm bells in Number 10 Downing Street”.”
The poll also indicates support for the Conservative vote remains flat. When asked how they’d vote in a General Election, 50% said Labour (up 4% on last week) and 21% said the Tories (down 1%).
The Liberal Democrats are on 7% (down 2%), the Greens are at 6% (down 1%) and Reform is on 7% (no change).
This means the gap between Labour and the Conservatives is now 29 points.
Professor Goodwin added: “Once again, we find little evidence of a serious or sustained recovery for the Conservative Party. Labour continues to ride high in the polls while the Tories, unless these numbers change, remain destined for an almighty and humiliating defeat at the next general election”.
Meanwhile, in another boost for Labour, voters indicated the party would be as good at managing Brexit as the Tories. When asked about which political party people think would be the best at managing Brexit, 17% said Labour and 16% said the Conservatives.
A large proportion of the public, 40%, said they didn’t know.
Among 18–24-year-olds, six per cent believe the Conservatives would be best, whereas 31% of those aged 65-plus said the Conservative Party. Among Leavers, 13% said Labour and 30% said the Conservative Party. Among Remainers, 25% said Labour and 8% said the Conservatives.
Professor Goodwin added: “The fact Labour are marginally ahead of the Conservatives on Brexit, which is supposed to be the Conservative Party’s signature issue,
will be of major concern to the party. With no ownership of the Brexit issue, and for that matter the economy, it is increasingly hard if not impossible to see how the governing party can turn things around”.
