Tory lead over Labour dips to just five points ahead of ‘Super Thursday’ elections as Boris Johnson’s approval rating also slides after tumultuous week in Westminster for the PM
- Opinium survey puts Conservatives on 42 per cent and Labour on 37 per cent
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has fallen to minus six
- Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has seen his rise to plus eight
The Conservative Party’s poll lead over Labour has dipped to just five points ahead of ‘Super Thursday’ elections after Boris Johnson’s tumultuous week in Westminster.
A new survey conducted by Opinium puts the Tories on 42 per cent while Labour is on 37 per cent.
The Conservatives’ number is down two points from last week while Labour’s represents an increase of four points.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson’s personal net approval rating has suffered a drop, falling to minus six overall.
But his Labour counterpart Sir Keir Starmer has headed in the opposite direction, rising to plus eight.
The Conservative Party’s poll lead over Labour has dipped to just five points ahead of ‘Super Thursday’ elections after Boris Johnson’s tumultuous week in Westminster. Sir Keir Starmer’s net approval rating has increased to plus eight
The poll numbers are likely to cause concern at Tory HQ as the party prepares to fight local, mayoral, police and crime commissioner, Holyrood and Welsh Assembly elections on Thursday May 6.
Opinium carried out the online survey of 2,0001 UK adults from April 28 to April 30 as the PM faced rows over the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat and over claims he made insensitive remarks about the pandemic.
Last week both Mr Johnson and Sir Keir had net approval ratings of plus one.
But Mr Johnson is now on minus six, with 37 per cent of people approving of his performance while 43 per cent disapprove.
Sir Keir is on plus eight, with 38 per cent of voters approving of his performance and 30 per cent disapproving.
Opinium said the number represented Sir Keir’s most clearly positive rating in weeks.
However, Mr Johnson is still rated as the person more likely to be the best prime minister, beating Sir Keir by 32 per cent to 29 per cent.
Meanwhile, approval for the Government’s handling of the pandemic is now at its highest point since May 2020.
Some 45 per cent of voters approve of the Government’s handling of the crisis while 36 per cent disapprove.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly denied claims he said he would rather see ‘bodies pile high’ than impose a third lockdown.
The Opinium survey found that half of voters (52 per cent) think the Prime Minister made the comment while 28 per cent think he did not.
Adam Drummond, head of political polling, at Opinium said: ‘Debate has been raging over whether the prime minister’s various scandals have had ‘cut through’ with the public given polling results (including ours) which would show that people disapproved of Boris Johnson’s behaviour while also giving his party a sizeable lead in voting intention.
‘Today’s poll gives a partial answer to that question as the prime minister’s job approval ratings have declined, his lead over Keir Starmer has shrunk and the Conservatives’ poll lead has been chopped in half while at the same time public approval of the government’s pandemic handling remains consistently positive.’