Theresa May is seen more favourably than Jeremy Corbyn for first time since General Election after Skripal, anti-Semitism costs Labour leader

Theresa May is seen as more favourable than Jeremy Corbyn since last year’s General Election – but the voting public isn’t particularly keen on either.

The Prime Minister has a net favourability of -13, bolstered by her reaction to the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in early May, according to the latest YouGov findings. Some 53 per cent of respondents said she had handled the crisis well.

Meanwhile, harmed by his response to the Salisbury attacks and the anti-Semitism row, Corbyn’s popularity has slipped to -23. Only 18 per cent of people felt he had dealt with the Skripal incident well, while 15 per cent felt he had handled the anti-Semitism scandal well, compared with 46 per cent who said he had handled it badly.

That represents a reversal of fortunes for the two, who have been fairly consistently bobbing around the -25 and -12 mark since August 2017 until the start of this year.

Labour’s own popularity has suffered as a result, with the party’s net favourability score down from – eight in January to -17 now.

But Corbyn is still seen better than most of Labour’s previous leaders, with Tony Blair getting an overwhelming thumbs down.

The former Prime Minister has a net favourability of -50, while Ed Miliband is on -33, slightly worse than Gordon Brown on -32.

David Miliband, who has been linked with a possible come back in British politics, has a rating of -22.