A ‘Rishi bounce’ has developed into a ‘Sunak slide’ as the prime minister wakes up to yet more bad polling results this week.
Since Parliament reconvened after Summer, Opinium’s latest poll shows that Labour has slightly stretched its lead, as the Conservative vote falters.
Labour currently leads by 15-points with 41 per cent of the vote share (-1) vs. 26 per cent for the Conservatives (-2). The Liberal Democrats are on 11 per cent (+2) and Reform UK is on 8 per cent (no change).
Rishi Sunak’s approval has also continued to slide downwards, as a majority (53 per cent) disapprove while 23 per cent approve.
This leaves a -30 per cent net approval – a marked drop from his -25 per cent net approval two weeks ago.
Keir Starmer’s approval is much better by comparison, although it has fallen slightly.
Three in ten approve of the Labour leader while 39 per cent disapprove, leaving a -9 per cent approval.
This is 2 points down from a fortnight ago. Starmer also remains the preferred choice for Prime Minister, with 29 per cent choosing him compared to 23 per cent picking Sunak. However, crucially, a larger proportion pick neither (38 per cent).
In the public’s eyes, Rishi Sunak is seen as being less competent at economic affairs than most previous Conservative prime ministers.
Out of the last five leaders, David Cameron ranked highest for economic management, with 40 per cent thinking the party handled the economy well when he was PM while 44 per cent thought the party handled the economy badly.
Sunak ranked below Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, as 27 per cent thinking his Conservatives are handling the economy well but 60 per cent thinking they’re handling it poorly.
Liz Truss is seen as handling economic affairs the worst, with a large majority (78 per cent) thinking her party performed poorly, and just 10 per cent thinking they did well.
Ahead of the next General Election, more than half (54 per cent) would like to see the government cut NHS waiting times. A similar number would like to see inflation cut (52 per cent) and an improvement in energy security (41 per cent).
However, around half of the public think each of these measures are unachievable for a Conservative government (56 per cent, 45 per cent and 46 per cent respectively).
Adam Drummond, Head of Political and Social Research at Opinium said: “There remain no signs of a Conservative turnaround in the polls, with Labour on a 15 point lead.
“Looking ahead to the next election, voters most want to see the Conservative government focus on cutting NHS waiting times and cutting inflation.
“Despite these being two of the five pledges Rishi Sunak made earlier in the year, the public remain skeptical of his government being able to do so, with around half of voters thinking these are unachievable under his government.”
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