Voters are not convinced that the prime minister has been honest in his response to ‘partygate’
MPs are due to vote today on whether to open an inquiry into whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament about his involvement in several Covid law-breaking parties, after the prime minister received a fixed-penalty notice for ‘partygate’.
Politicians in parliament may be bound to a strict set of rules that leave them unable to call other members dishonest, but the British public are not so constrained. So, what do they think – did Boris Johnson lie?
New polling from YouGov / The Times reveals more than three quarters of Britons (78%) think Boris Johnson has lied in his response to the issue of parties being held at Downing Street during lockdown. Just 8% think he has not lied, and 14% are unsure.
Half of current Conservative supporters think the prime minister lied about ‘partygate’
Half of those who currently intend to vote Conservative (51%) say Boris Johnson has lied about ‘partygate’, with a quarter (25%) saying he has not lied and a further 25% unsure.
Those who backed the party in the 2019 general election are more likely still to think that the prime minister has lied, at 61%.
Labour voters are almost unanimous in their opinion of the prime minister’s dishonesty, with 95% of those who backed the party in 2019 and 96% who do so now accusing Johnson of lying.
See full results here
