Tory lead and Boris Johnson’s approval rating fall after week of testimonies

The Tories’ lead has fallen by six points on 42 per cent following Dominic Cummings’ testimonies this week.

Meanwhile Labour are on 36 per cent after an additional five points, according to Opinium’s latest poll.

Boris Johnson’s approval rating has also fallen from +6 to -6, while Keir Starmer’s has held steady at -9.

Johnson has also seen the largest drop in the last two weeks on the number of people who think he is strong (41 per cent down to 34 per cent), likeable (46 per cent down to 39 per cent), and competent (38 per cent down to 33 per cent).

The number of people who think Starmer is decisive (27 per cent down from 36 per cent), in touch with ordinary people (28 per cent down from 32 per cent) and has similar views to their own (28 per cent down from 32 per cent) has taken a similar hit.

Opinions on Cummings and Hancock

Despite only 20 per cent trusting Cummings to tell the truth, compared to 71 per cent who do not trust him, respondents do generally believe a lot of his claims.

When it comes to Matt Hancock, 44 per cent think he should resign as health secretary, compared to only 30 per cent who think he should keep his job.

Among Cummings’ claims, the public most strongly agree with the fact that Hancock should never have had a senior job in government (61 per cent versus 14 per cent).

41 per cent disapprove of the Prime Minister’s handling of the pandemic, compared to 38 per cent who approve, and 42 per cent disapprove of Matt Hancock’s handling versus 31 per cent who approve.

Adam Drummond, Opinium head of political polling, said: “Whilst Dominic Cummings is seen as one of the least trustworthy men in Britain, the public do see some truth in the allegations he made against Boris Johnson’s government, puncturing the Conservatives’ post-Hartlepool bounce and reversing a recent spike in the prime minister’s approval rating.

“However, there are strong reasons to believe that this won’t last though as the underlying approval figures for the vaccine rollout, which has driven voting intention since the beginning of 2021, are unchanged and remain very strong.”

Cummings says it’s “perfectly reasonable” to think Remain should have won

Andra Maciuca

Andra is a multilingual, award-winning NQJ senior journalist and the UK’s first Romanian representing co-nationals in Britain and reporting on EU citizens for national news. She is interested in UK, EU and Eastern European affairs, EU citizens in the UK, British citizens in the EU, environmental reporting, ethical consumerism and corporate social responsibility. She has contributed articles to VICE, Ethical Consumer and The New European and likes writing poetry, singing, songwriting and playing instruments. She studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield and has a Masters in International Business and Management from the University of Manchester. Follow her on: