Chancellor’s Approval Rating at Record Low According to New Poll

As the dust continues to settle on the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, Opinium has published its latest fortnightly poll for The Observer.

When it comes to headline voting intentions Labour are up 1 point from two weeks ago on 38%, with the Conservatives also up 1 point on 36%.

Looking at Boris Johnson’s leadership, 52% of respondents said they disapproved of the way he was handling his job as Prime Minister, down from 54% two weeks ago. 28% approved of the job he is doing, up 1 point.

For Labour Leader, Keir Starmer, 32% said they disapprove of the job he is doing, up 2 points from a fortnight ago. 28% approve of the job he is doing as Leader of the Opposition, unchanged since Opinium’s last poll.

26% say they think Boris Johnson would make the best Prime Minister (down 1 point) compared to 25% who said the same about Keir Starmer (also down 1 point).

The polling includes a number of questions asking what type of Government (Labour led by Keir Starmer or Conservative led by Boris Johnson) would be best at handling a range of issues. Opinium notes of these results: “Labour leads on 10 out of 13 issues, with the big leads on public services & benefits (+16%), health (+12%) and inequality (+18%).

“The Conservatives retain a lead on defence (+9%), dealing with terrorism (+6%), with a narrow lead on dealing with crime (+1%).”

In a sign that the Spring Statement did not land as well with the public as the Government might have hoped, 35% say they disapprove of the job that Rishi Sunak is doing as Chancellor, with just 31% approving. According to Opinium, this is an all-time low when it comes to the Chancellor’s approval ratings.

On the crucial issue of the economy, 48% said they disapprove of the way the Government is handling the economy compared to 22% who approve.

68% feel the Government should be doing more to help tackle the cost-of-living pressures faced by many people, whilst 35% believe the planned National Insurance increase should be cancelled, with 27% saying it should be delayed until later in the year. 24% say the rise should go ahead in April as planned.

Asked about where their views now were in respect of Brexit, 30% of respondents said we should rejoin the EU whilst 25% said that while we should stay outside the EU, we should negotiate a closer relationship with it. 18% said that we should keep things as they are whilst 15% thought we should negotiate a more distant relationship with the EU.

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