Johnson still preferred choice for PM despite series of U- turns
Voters believe Boris Johnson is the best person to lead the country through the pandemic at this moment despite a summer of repeated policy U- turns and the exams chaos, new polling shows.
The Pri me Minist e r has come under sustained criticism from his own MPS as well as the Opposition over his handling of the Covid- 19 outbreak in recent weeks, following a series of high- profile policy reversals.
But a survey of 2,500 people by Redfield and Wilton Strategies shows voters believe Mr Johnson is the better leader to be in Downing Street, with the Prime Minister enjoying a 12- point lead over Labour ledaer Sir Keir Starmer.
When asked at this moment, which of the following individuals do you think would be the better Prime Minister for the
United Kingdom, 45 per cent of respondents said Mr Johnson, whereas 33 per cent chose the Labour leader. It comes just over a week after a similar poll by Yougov showed Sir Keir was ahead of Mr Johnson by three points on the question of who would make the best PM.
Particularly encouraging for Mr Johnson is the fact that support remains s t r o n g i n p a r t s o f t h e country that were previously Labour strongholds, meaning the Prime Minister has not lost the backing of “red wall” seats that voted Conservative for the first time in December’s general election.
The survey shows 51 per cent of voters in the East Midlands and 53 per cent in the North East believe Mr Johnson to be the better choice at this point in time.
The results will prove difficult reading for the Labour leader, who was not viewed as Prime Minister material by any region of the UK except London.
The f i gures al s o s uggest the electorate is supportive of some tax rises to help the government restore the public finances in the wake of the pandemic.
Around a third ( 32 per cent) said they would be willing to see companies and individuals pay more tax to help cover the costs of Covid- 19.