Public opinion for Boris Johnson collapses, poll shows

A new poll has revealed a collapse in public opinion for prime minister Boris Johnson and the Tory government. 

According to the poll by Survation, for ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Labour have maintained their recently gained lead over the Tories at 39 per cent, with the latter polling at 32 per cent.

It is a new low for the party in any Survation polling conducted since Johnson became leader in July 2019, a statement said.

As many as 1,218 people living in the UK and aged 18+ were interviewed online between 10 and 11 December for the poll.

The poll said that the perceived performance of the government, and favourability of the Tories, and Boris Johnson continue to show declines amongst the public.

However, the Labour Party and its leader Keir Starmer’s ratings have seen improvement.

Sir Keir became the preferred candidate with Survation for "best prime minister" 39 per cent (up 7 per cent) for the first time since 6 October 2020. Boris Johnson is (down 14) to 30 per cent since 7 October 7. Meanwhile, 31 per cent of the respondents gave the answer "don't know".

According to the poll, 57 per cent of the public believe Johnson should resign, 30 per cent said he should not. Nearly a third of those who voted Conservative in 2019 believe that Johnson should resign and nearly 1 in 5 (19.8 per cent) of those indicating that they would currently vote for the Tories.

In another major development, Rishi Sunak is the most popular choice as a replacement with the public under a resignation scenario, with 24 per cent of those interviewed choosing the chancellor. No other candidate stands out particularly for the public on this question, the statement further said.