The Conservatives and Labour are level-pegging in the latest Savanta ComRes Westminster Voting Intention, the first time the Conservatives have not led in a Savanta ComRes poll since July 2019.
- Headline Voting Intention: Lab 39% (-); Con 39% (-3); LD 7% (-); Other 15% (+3)
- Government handling of Coronavirus net approval drops 2 points in last week and 12 points since start of September
- PM handling of Coronavirus net approval also drops 2 points in last week and 11 points since start of September
- Significant week-on-week rise in those who say Government not doing enough to support places of leisure
The two main parties are tied on 39% of the vote apiece, if a General Election were to be held tomorrow, with the Conservatives down 3 points from a week ago, while Labour have not changed. The Liberal Democrats also remain the same, on 7%, while the other parties, including the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Northern Irish parties, are on 15%.
The new polling comes as Government approval regarding the Coronavirus pandemic continues to fall. The UK Government’s net approval in the Savanta Coronavirus Data Tracker – measuring how the public approve or disapprove with the handling of the pandemic, specifically – is now -16%, down 2 points from the previous week and down 12 points since the start of September. Similarly, the Prime Minister’s net approval now sits at -20%, also down 2 points from the previous week and down 11 points since the start of September. Keir Starmer’s net approval regarding the pandemic, similar to Labour’s voting intention, remains steady at +1%, and has been for three of the previous four weeks.
Elsewhere in the data tracker, there are significant week-on-week rises in those who say the Government is not doing enough to support various types of people and sectors. More than half of the public say that the Government is not doing enough to support places of leisure (53%) and the self-employed (51%), while slightly fewer say the Government isn’t doing enough to support small businesses (49%) and the NHS (46%). The week-on-week changes can be found below.
| W/E 27/09 | W/E 4/10 | W/E 11/10 | 3-week diff | |
| Places of leisure | 44% | 48% | 53% | +9 points |
| Self-employed | 45% | 47% | 51% | +6 points |
| Small businesses | 44% | 47% | 49% | +5 points |
| NHS | 43% | 44% | 46% | +3 points |
| Employees | 36% | 39% | 42% | +6 points |
| Airlines | 33% | 34% | 37% | +4 points |
% who say Government not doing enough to support
Chris Hopkins, Associate Director at Savanta ComRes said, “While the headline in this poll is undoubtedly that this is the first time we haven’t shown a Conservative lead in our Westminster VI since July 2019, this is just one poll, and it’s perhaps more pertinent that the Labour Party do not appear to be gaining in our polling, while the Conservatives have taken more of a hit.
“We are seeing week-on-week in our Coronavirus tracker that net approval of the Government and its key figures continues to fall yet the Labour Party do not appear to be overtly capitalising. Clearly dissatisfaction with the Conservatives does not mean voters are likely to flock to Labour and Keir Starmer’s party must do much more in order to take advantage of the lack of approval in what the Government are currently doing.”
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