Boris Johnson ratings are falling

The Savanta ComRes’ poll has the Conservative Party on 40%, a two-point drop from the last month, while the Labour Party remain on 37% for the third month in a row. The Liberal Democrats gain one point to sit on 8%, while support for other parties including the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Northern Irish parties combines to 15%.  

There are also significant drops in the favourability of key Government figures. The Government’s general net favourability of -12 represents a five-point drop from August and is the lowest since the Savanta ComRes Political Tracker began back in May, while approval of the government’s handling of the pandemic is at an all-time low looking at a weekly average from our Coronavirus daily tracker.

The Prime Minister’s personal approval ratings drop from -1 in August to -9 in September, while Dominic Raab (-6, a four-point drop) and Matt Hancock (-12, a seven-point drop) have also seen their favourability fall. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s personal ratings remain the strongest at +30, back to the level he enjoyed in July, though fieldwork was conducted well before the announcement of his latest winter economy plan.  

The poll also shows a narrowing of the gap in the ‘Best Prime Minister’ metric. While Sir Keir Starmer’s personal favourability rating rose slightly this month from +1 to +3, he still remains behind on our ‘Best PM’ rating, although the 13-point cushion that Boris Johnson enjoyed last month has been halved to just six points (41% (-2) vs 35% (+5)). 

Chris Hopkins, Associate Director, Savanta ComRes said, “Rishi Sunak enjoys a much higher favourability and approval rating than the Prime Minister, and appears to be the only cabinet minister with any semblance of positive sentiment among the public, as positivity towards the Prime Minister has long since eroded.

The Chancellor’s high standing will be at least partly down to his economy-saving measures but, as such measures can’t last forever, it will be interesting to see whether the positivity towards him continues during the bleak looking winter period ahead.”