Labour have a 19pt voting intention lead over the Conservative Party

Labour have a 19pt voting intention lead over the Conservative Party, according to the latest polling from Savanta.

The poll, conducted over the weekend (21-23 July), shows Labour on 47% of the vote and the Conservatives on 28%, the former up one points, and the remaining on the same vote share as the previous week. This presents the largest Labour lead in a Savanta poll since the 19pts recorded at the start of February.

The poll also assesses which of the two party leaders would make the best Prime Minister. Keir Starmer increases his lead over Rishi Sunak to five points, (39% Starmer vs 34% Sunak), only the third time he has led the Best PM metric since Liz Truss was Prime Minister, and his largest ever lead over Sunak.

Starmer’s net favourability remains virtually unchanged. The Labour leader’s net favourability stands at 0, up one point from last month, while Sunak’s stands at -14 down three points in the same period.

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said, “Although I’d be reluctant to make too much of a one-point increase in the Labour lead, which is well within the margin of error, it does appear to me that, at this stage of the electoral cycle, Labour are consolidating at worst, or building on at best, their lead over the Conservatives.”

“There has been little evidence in Rishi Sunak’s tenure that he’s capable of bridging the polling gap that he inherited, beyond his initial steadying of the ship post-Liz Truss.

“Some bad by-election results, followed by a reported desire to lurch to the right and make more of divisive, wedge issues with the Labour Party, fails to grasp where the Conservatives have gone wrong. Until Sunak realises that voters care more about their personal finances rather than culture wars, the Conservatives are condemned to defeat.”