Ipsos MORI’s latest Political Pulse survey reveals around half (49%) of Britons think the country is heading in the wrong direction (+5 since September) – the highest proportion since the start of the year.
Only one in four (24%) think the country is on the right track (-5) which has near halved from as recently as May (when it was 47%).
Meanwhile, half (50%) now think the UK’s decision to leave the European Union is having a negative impact on the country (+7 since September). One in four (25%) say it has had a positive impact (-5), and 18% say no difference (-2). Leave voters are more likely to believe it has made a positive impact (45%) but a notable one in four (24%) think it has been negative.
Amid this pessimism, Boris Johnson has experienced a slight dip in his ratings following Conservative party conference. Nearing half (49%) say they have an unfavourable opinion of the Prime Minister (+3 since September). One in four (26%) are favourable towards him (-2).
Some forty-five percent say that since Boris Johnson has become Prime Minister, he has changed the country for the worse, whilst fewer than a quarter in each case think he has either made no difference (24%) or changed the country for the better (22%). Optimism is low that things will change, with similar proportions believing he will make the country worse in the future (43%), make no difference (23%) or make it better (24%).
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer’s ratings are largely unchanged following Labour’s conference. Two in five (42%) have an unfavourable opinion of Mr Starmer (-2 from September). Only one in five (19%) are favourable towards him (-1).
Nearing half (46%) believe Mr Starmer has made no difference to the Labour party since becoming leader (-1 since May 2021), whereas nearer one in five say he has either made it better (19%, -1) or worse (19%, unchanged).
Opinion is only slightly more optimistic that he will improve things for the Labour party in the future (24%, +2 since May) as slightly fewer think he will not make a difference (38%, -5), but the same proportion think he will make things worse (19%, +1).
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