Rishi Sunak is set to face Prime Minister’s Questions and his backbenchers on Wednesday as polling suggests his approval rating is at an all-time low.
Just a quarter of Britons surveyed by YouGov last week hold a favourable view of the UK prime minister, while two thirds have an unfavourable opinion.
His net favourability has tumbled to minus 40, the lowest level since he took office, the polling firm said.
It is bad news for Mr Sunak ahead of Thursday’s by-elections, with the Tories already bracing for a potential triple defeat.
His approval score dropped from minus 34 in late June.
Since then, the economic situation has continued to be dire, with the cost of a mortgage hitting a 15-year high.
Despite Mr Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation by the end of the year, it has stuck at 8.7 per cent and the Bank of England is still hiking interest rates.
The latest official inflation figures are released on Wednesday morning amid worries over more financial pain in store for homeowners.
With the consensus among economists that June’s figure will stay high at around 8.2 per cent, the issue will likely come up in Mr Sunak’s weekly clash with Sir Keir Starmer.
Labour’s five missions will make Britain work for working people again.
Together, we will build a better Britain. pic.twitter.com/pyCyEJdpbS— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 18, 2023
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Public perception of the Labour leader is far better than that of Mr Sunak, with Mr Starmer’s favourability rating at minus 22.
But it has also fallen, having been minus 14 in June.
One in three of the 2,151 people surveyed by YouGov have a favourable view of Mr Starmer, while 54 per cent have an unfavourable one.
Mr Sunak’s last grilling in the Commons before Parliament rises for summer recess comes after he missed the last two sessions for the NHS 75th Anniversary service and to attend the Nato summit in Lithuania.
The Conservative Party leader is expected address his MPs at the 1922 committee of backbench Tories later on Wednesday.
Then on Thursday, he faces midterm by-elections he has admitted will be “difficult”, with his latest personal poll slump likely to add to Tory jitters.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are hoping to inflict blows on the Conservatives in the contests in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Selby and Ainsty, and Somerton and Frome.
Defeats would increase pressure on the British prime minister to act decisively to turn around public perception ahead of a general election expected next year.
