A drink with Boris?

• The public want William to be King instead of Charles • They like Kate but aren’t keen on Meghan & Andrew

VOTERS would rather have a drink or go on holiday with Boris Johnson than Keir Starmer – but think the Labour leader would make a better husband.

They also think the line of Royal succession should skip Prince Charles and pass straight to William, and blame Meghan for her husband Harry’s estrangement from the family.

Those are just some of the findings from the first Mail on Sunday Superpoll, using a sample more than twice the normal size to act as the barometer of the state of the nation. Mr Johnson comes out top when voters are asked who they prefer to be Prime Minister, by 42 per cent to 33 per cent; and while 47 per cent of voters think Mr Johnson would be best to go for a drink, just 26 per cent feel the same way about Sir Keir. However, only 20 per cent think Mr Johnson would make the best husband, compared with 33 per cent for Sir Keir.

Deltapoll found voters back the Prime Minister’s decision to hike National Insurance to help the NHS and social care. They also back bailouts for firms hit by energy price rises, by 45 per cent to 35 per cent.

They also back Mr Johnson’s call for British lorry drivers to receive pay increases to help tackle the shortage of labour, with 52 per cent in favour, 32 per cent opposed.

Top of voters’ fears for the future is rising inflation (80 per cent), closely followed by the NHS being under strain (79 per cent) and a new Covid variant causing further lockdowns (70 per cent).

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is the favourite to be the next Tory leader, backed by 24 per cent; his closest rival is Health Secretary Sajid Javid on just 7 per cent. Mr Sunak also tops the ‘best date’ rankings with 10 per cent, followed by Home Secretary Priti Patel on 8 per cent.

The Queen and Prince William are the most popular Royals, boasting positive ratings of 61 per cent,

Rishi is favourite to lead the Tories – and for a date

followed by Kate Middleton on 53 per cent. Propping up the table are Meghan, on 22 per cent, and Prince Andrew, on 12 per cent.

Half of voters think that Andrew should go to the US to answer the civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleges she was forced to have sex with the Royal when she was 17.

A total of 48 per cent think that Andrew has damaged the Queen’s reputation, with 37 per cent disagreeing. And there is a clear preference for the Crown to pass directly to William – 41 per cent, with 30 per cent backing Charles.

Although Harry has a positive rating of only 30 per cent, he tops the list when voters are asked which Royal they would most like to have a drink with, at 19 per cent.

Nearly half, 49 per cent, think Meghan was the prime mover behind their decision to emigrate to America.

Finally, voters are split on how the Covid pandemic started, with 27 per cent blaming a lab leak and the same proportion thinking it passed naturally from animals to humans.

Deltapoll interviewed 3,043 British adults online between October 13 and 15. The data has been weighted to be representative of the adult population as a whole.