Dominic Raab’s favourability at all-time low following Afghan crisis

Connor IbbetsonData Journalist
September 06, 2021, 12:51 PM GMT+0

Just one in five members of the public have a positive view of the foreign secretary

The foreign secretary Dominic Raab has been under intense scrutiny following his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan - from being on holiday during the start of the crisis, to delegating important tasks to junior aides. The newest YouGov favourability data shows that this approach has sent Raab’s standing with members of the public to an all-time low.

Only one in five people (19%) now hold a favourable view of Raab, down 3pts since mid-August. A majority of people now hold an unfavourable view of him (58%), an increase of 9pts versus August. This represents the highest level of unfavourable opinion Raab has held since our polling of him began in 2020.

Overall, these latest favourability scores give the foreign secretary a net score of -39 among the general public.

Along political lines, some 45% of 2019 Conservative voters have an unfavourable view of Raab versus 37% who think the opposite – giving him a net score of -8 among his party’s voters. Of Labour voters, only 8% think favourable of Raab, while 79% have an unfavourable opinion – a net score of -71.

Elsewhere, the party leaders have seen their scores increase compared to August, however they remain firmly in the negative. Boris Johnson’s net score has increased from -25 to -19, with 36% of the public viewing him favourably and 55% unfavourably. Keir Starmer has seen his net score rise 7pts from -30 to -23. Approaching three in ten (29%) now view the leader of the opposition favourably, while half (52%) hold an unfavourable view.

See full results here

Explore more data & articles