Public Not Convinced by Either Starmer or Sunak’s Handling of the Situation in Israel and Gaza

Following scenes of utter chaos in the House of Commons on Wednesday as the Speaker broke precedence over which motions in relation to Israel and Gaza got debated, what, if any, impact has it had on the polls?

According to YouGov’s poll for The Times out at the end of last week, Labour’s lead over the Conservatives has increased. It put Labour on 46%, up 2 points since the week before, with the Conservatives down 4 points on 20%.

Opinium’s poll for The Observer meanwhile puts Labour down 1 point compared to last week on 42%, trailed by the Conservatives on 27%, unchanged compared to last week.

On the substance of the issue that was of such controversy in the Commons, neither of the main party leaders seem to have performed all that well. According to the poll just 21% of the public approve of the way Rishi Sunak has responded to the hostilities in Israel and Gaza, followed by just 20% saying the same about Keir Starmer.

Interestingly though whilst 56% of those planning to vote Conservative say Rishi Sunak has handled the issue well, just 39% of those planning to vote Labour said the same about Keir Starmer.

Meanwhile, amidst jitters within the Conservative Party at the potential impact of Reform UK on their electoral fortunes, Opinium found that among the public as a whole, should Nigel Farage return as leader of Reform, 24% said they would have a more favourable view of the party, compared to 22% saying it would lead to them having a less favourable view of it.

What will worry Conservative HQ most however is that among those saying they voted Conservative in 2019, 40% said that Nigel Farage returning as leader would make them more favourable to Reform UK.

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