Support For The Tories Reaches Record Low In Latest Blow For Rishi Sunak
The Conservatives have slumped to a record low poll rating, with Rishi Sunak’s personal numbers also falling off a cliff.
According to Ipsos, support for the Tories have fallen to just 19%, the lowest in the pollsters’ 45-year history.
That puts them 25 points behind Labour, who are on 44%.
Worryingly for the prime minister, the right-wing Reform UK are just six points behind the Tories on 13%.
If the figures were repeated at the general election, Labour would win in a landslide.
Sunak’s personal approval rating has also slumped to minus 59, level with John Major’s score in August 1994 and nearly as bad as Jeremy Corbyn’s record low of minus 60 in September 2019.
💥RECORD BREAKING @IpsosUK VOTING INTENTION 💥
Lab: 44%
Con: 19%
Reform: 13%
Lib Dems: 9%
Greens: 9%
Other: 6%
Lowest the Conservatives have ever polled with us across 45 years of surveys (breaking last month’s record)https://t.co/pWetwVfsU5pic.twitter.com/cjBVcwxwcx— Cameron Garrett (@CameronGarrett_) April 18, 2024
When given a head-to-head choice, the public think Keir Starmer would make the most capable prime minister over Sunak by a margin of 22 points (44% to 22%).
Despite Sunak’s abysmal personal poll ratings, other potential Tory leaders do not do much better against Starmer.
The Labour leader is ahead of Penny Mordaunt by 17 points (42% to 25%), ahead of Kemi Badenoch by 34 points (48% to 14%) and ahead of Suella Braverman by 35 points (53% to 18%).
The survey also found that the right-wing Reform UK party is now in third place having risen from 8% to 13%. The Lib Dems and Green Party are both on 9%.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said: “There’s no doubt that Rishi Sunak’s ratings are historically poor.
“Being in the company of John Major and Jeremy Corbyn before they lost elections does not bode well, while although it’s not unusual for a prime minister to be seen as out of touch, Rishi Sunak is also falling further behind on aspects such as being a capable leader.
“But it’s still not clear the extent to which this a symptom rather than a cause of the Conservatives’ wider problems.
“The public are not crying out for another Conservative leadership change before the next election, and there is not much evidence that his potential challengers are seen as any better against the Labour leader, even among the Conservatives 2019 vote.”
Yesterday two other polls also showed the Conservatives were on course for a heavy defeat.
YouGov’s latest survey also put the Tories on just 19% - down two points on their joint-lowest ever score with the pollster.
And a Savanta poll put Labour on 43%, one point up on a week before and 18 points ahead of the Tories, who had fallen two points to 25%.
It comes two weeks ahead of the crucial local elections in England and Wales on May 2, which will be Sunak and Starmer’s final big electoral test before the general election.
