It’s bad for Rishi — but it could get even worse

WHEN Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, his MPs hoped their new leader’s relative popularity would rub off on a discredited Tory brand. Instead, the reverse effect appears to be on display.

An exclusive Ipsos poll for the Standard finds that Sunak’s rating as PM has fallen to the worst-ever level for a major party leader, at -59 equal to the nadirs of both Jeremy Corbyn and Sir John Major. It seems that no matter who is Conservative leader, the party takes him or her down with it.

It is not that voters are flocking enthusiastically to the warm embrace of Sir Keir Starmer. The Labour leader’s rating has slumped to its lowest level since he assumed the job, with 56 per cent dissatisfied, leaving him on a net score of -31. But British politics is a comparative exercise. The Labour Party and Sir Keir need only be more popular than the alternative.

Given public sentiment, it is perhaps unsurprising that more than half of Britons want a general election to be held by the end of summer, rather than dragging into the autumn as now appears certain. The incentive for the Prime Minister is to hold on for as long as possible. Two years in post isn’t bad these days, certainly compared with the 49 days his predecessor, Liz Truss, managed to eke out.

Yet the risk is that by clinging on until November, perhaps even December, the political weather will deteriorate and the Conservatives might endure not a 1997 moment, but a 1993 Canada-style collapse — in which the party of government went from 167 seats to just two.

No doubt the Prime Minister remains laser-focused on shepherding inflation back to target, growing the economy and managing Britain’s role in an ever more dangerous world. But the extent to which his efforts will improve these dreadful poll numbers is unclear. To borrow from a once popular song, things could in fact get worse.