The British prime minister has admitted he could have handled the Owen Paterson row and subsequent fallout “better”.
Boris Johnson has seen his party and his own personal ratings plummet in opinion polls since the UK government’s controversial attempt to tear up the House of Commons standards system in a bid to delay Mr Paterson’s punishment for breaking lobbying rules.
The former environment secretary – who has since resigned as an MP – had been handed a 30-day suspension after he was found to have lobbied for two companies paying him more than £100,000 (€117,200) a year.
The bid to reform the system, and subsequent U-turn, has intensified the spotlight on MPs’ seconds jobs and their expenses claims, leading to a flurry of negative headlines for the Tories.
One poll by Savanta ComRes poll put Labour six points ahead of the governing party, while an Opinium survey suggested Mr Johnson’s personal rating had dropped to an all-time low of minus 21 per cent.
Under pressure to apologise for his handling of the sleaze row as the UK government seeks to turn the tide, the Conservative Party leader told reporters he could have made “better” decisions on the Paterson affair.
Asked at a Downing Street press conference on Sunday what he would say to those who thought he had “got it wrong”, Mr Johnson replied: “Of course, I think things could certainly have been handled better, let me put it that way, by me.”
Similar to last week, Johnson’s approval rating is as bad as it has ever been.
30% approve of the job he is doing (No change)
51% disapprove of the job he is doing (+1) pic.twitter.com/cbPwanQ6Bh— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) November 13, 2021
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Mr Johnson also backed the Commons standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, calling for her to be “allowed” to do her job.
His comments come after business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Ms Stone should consider her position after the way she handled the investigation into former North Shropshire MP Mr Paterson.
Mr Johnson said he had confidence in the standards tsar, telling reporters: “I think the commissioner has a job to do and a huge amount of work to do, and she needs to get on and be allowed to do it.
“Whether the system is capable of improvement or not is a matter for the Standards Committee and for the House.”
