Conservative polling numbers “do not point to re-election” despite British prime minister Rishi Sunak’s personal popularity, a pollster has said.
Mr Sunak’s favourability ratings deteriorated slightly in November, according to pollster Ipsos, but he remains only just behind UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in terms of personal popularity.
Some 29 per cent of people said they had a favourable opinion of Mr Sunak, down from 34 per cent in October, while 39 per cent said they had an unfavourable view, only slightly up from 38 per cent.
The poll of 1,000 British adults, carried out between November 25th and 28th, found 32 per cent said they had a favourable opinion of Mr Starmer and 38 per cent saying they had an unfavourable one.
The Labour leader had recorded a net positive favourability rating in October for the first time in almost two years, but the November poll suggested he had slipped back slightly.
However, Mr Sunak’s personal popularity did not translate into significant support for the Conservative Party.
More than half the public said they had an unfavourable opinion of the Tories, while only 20 pr cent said they had a favourable one – the same proportion that backed the party in October.
In contrast, Labour had a net favourability rating of only -1, with 37 per cent backing the party and 38 per cent opposed.
Adding to Mr Sunak’s problems was the finding that 62 per cent of people thought the UK was heading in the wrong direction while only 14 per cent thought the opposite.
Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos UK, said: “These numbers show the extent of Rishi Sunak’s challenge as he seeks to win the Conservatives a fifth consecutive term in office at the next general election.
“Whilst his own personal poll ratings are solid and comparable to his opposite number Keir Starmer, six in 10 Britons think things are heading in the wrong direction and a majority are unfavourable towards the Conservative Party itself – numbers that do not point to re-election for the governing party.”
