Sunak favourability drops in wake of Privileges Committee report vote

Matthew SmithHead of Data Journalism
June 22, 2023, 10:22 AM GMT+0

Boris Johnson’s ratings likewise fall

YouGov’s latest favourability survey finds Rishi Sunak has taken a 6pt hit to his net favourability ratings, falling to -34 since last week.

Currently only 27% of Britons have a favourable view of the prime minister, compared to 61% who have an unfavourable view.

While recent economic news has been bad for Sunak, with mortgage travails covering the front pages in recent days, it is likely that the reputational damage has been caused primarily by his response to the Privileges Committee report which found that Boris Johnson had knowingly misled Parliament about COVID rule breaches in Downing Street.

Our poll earlier this week found that 57% of Britons believe Sunak handled this badly, and Sunak’s 6pt net favourability drop is matched by an 8pt net decrease for Boris Johnson over the same time period (to -52).

The current Conservative leader is more popular among 2019 Tory voters than the man leading the party when they cast their ballots. By 51% to 40%, Tory voters have a favourable view of Rishi Sunak, while Johnson proves more divisive: 47% have a favourable view of the former PM compared to 49% an unfavourable one.

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has seen a boost to his ratings over the same time period, experiencing a 9pt net shift to -14. This does, however, only put him back to the same level he was prior to the previous poll (-15 in late May). He remains notably less unpopular than his Tory rival, however.

See the full results here

Photo: Getty

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