Labour’s lead has stretched to 20 points in the last week, Opinium’s latest poll reveals, whilst the gap between the Conservatives and Reform has narrowed.
Labour now has 40% of the vote (no change), the Conservatives have 20% (-3) and Reform has 16% (+2).
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats are on 12% (no change), the Green Party is on 9% (+2) and the SNP is on 3% (+1).
Both Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage have seen a notable jump in their approval ratings, both gaining 5 points in the last week, while Rishi Sunak has dropped 1 point to his lowest ever net approval rating of -41%.
Starmer continues to lead on the “who would be the best prime minister” question by a wide margin. Over the campaign his share has remained consistent but his lead has increased as Sunak’s has fallen. Just 17% think Rishi Sunak would be a better prime minister but, for the second week in a row, “neither” is the most popular choice.
Labour and Reform enjoy best week of campaign so far
Opinium’s data also shows that voters broadly think Labour has a good week (43%), its joint highest week, compared to 18% who think the party has had a bad week.
According to the public, Reform has also had its best week of the campaign so far, with 34% thinking the party has had a good week. Only 11% think the Conservatives have had a good week, with the majority (59%) believing they’ve had a bad week.
Most voters blame government mishandling for the challenges currently facing the UK
Unfortunately for the Conservatives, more than half (54%) think the challenges that the UK is currently experiencing are a result of government mishandling, above external factors like the Covid pandemic (33%), Brexit (32%), and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (29%). Even two in five (39%) 2019 Conservatives say the government’s handling of things is to blame.
James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium said, “Clear blue water still exists between the Conservatives and Reform, but Rishi Sunak will balk at a quarter of 2019 Tory voters backing Nigel Farage’s party.
“Reform speaks the same language as many traditional Conservative voters, but the Prime Minister hopes to convince them that only the Tories can be trusted to make the big decisions on the things they care about.”
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