Polling Headaches for The Conservatives

Opinium’s latest poll for The Observer will cause some nervousness within the Conservative Party following a week in which the Prime Minister delivered a shambolic speech to the CBI conference.

When it comes to headline voting intentions, Labour retains a narrow two-point lead on 38%, with the Conservatives on 36%.

In respect of the verdict on the main two party leaders, Labour Leader, Sir Keir Starmer has a net approval rating of +1%, with Boris Johnson on -17%. In those seats the Conservatives gained at the 2019 General Election however Boris Johnson has a net approval rating of -20%, whilst Keir Starmer is on -2.

The Conservatives can hold on to a crumb of comfort by the fact that more respondents (29%) preferred Boris Johnson as Prime Minister to Keir Starmer (27%).

That crumb however goes completely as, when asked to force to choose what kind of Government they would prefer, 42% preferred a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer compared to 36% preferring a Conservative Government led by Boris Johnson.

In a sign of how close things are in the key seats that will decide the next election, in those constituencies gained by the Conservatives in 2019, 27%, when forced to choose, would prefer a Conservative Government led by Johnson, exactly the same proportion as said they would prefer a Labour Government led by Starmer.

48% of respondents felt Boris Johnson should resign as leader of the Conservative party, compared to 31% who said he should remain. In contrast 26% felt Keir Starmer should resign as Labour leader, with 39% saying he should remain.

40% said that Boris Johnson has been a worse Prime Minister than they expected, with 32% saying he has been what they expected.

Meanwhile, as the country begins to come to terms with a new variant of COVID-19, 42% of those polled said they felt the UK is badly prepared for a future pandemic compared to 34% who think the UK is well prepared.

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