Labour draws level with the Conservatives in new polling
Labour has clawed back a 26-point poll deficit to draw level with the Conservatives, after a number of policy U-turns and PR disasters for Boris Johnson’s government.
New polling from Opinium/The Observer has Labour and the Tories at 40 per cent of the vote, just five months after Johnson had given his party a 26-point lead.
The Liberal Democrats are floundering on just six per cent, just days after electing Sir Ed Davey as its new leader.
It is the first time Labour has drawn level in polling since July last year, just before Johnson was elected as leader of the Conservative party.
It marks a huge turnaround under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, who took over from Jeremy Corbyn in February.
Starmer has been lauded in some quarters for his efforts on holding the government to account at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) and for shifting the party away from the party’s hard-left faction.
The government’s rating have been in freefall throughout the coronavirus crisis as the UK’s total death toll became the highest in Europe.
It has also been forced to do 12 policy U-turns, after public outrage has often forced the government to backtrack in quick fashion.
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The latest U-turns have been over the A-level results fiasco and on face masks in schools.
The perceived poor performance by Johnson has created unrest among many Tory MPs, less than a year after the Prime Minister won the party an 80-seat majority.
Twelve senior Conservatives told the Financial Times this week about growing unhappiness about the way the government functions and its relationship with the civil service.
Charles Walker, who is vice-chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers told The Observer today: “Too often it looks like this government licks its finger and sticks it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.
“This is not a sustainable way to approach the business of governing and government.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for backbenchers now to promote and defend government policy as so often that policy is changed or abandoned without notice.”