Boris Johnson approval rating plunges by 20 points in four days amid Dominic Cummings scandal
Approval ratings for Labour leader Keir Starmer nearly doubled overnight
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson’s approval rating has plunged by 20 points in four days, amid the ongoing Dominic Cummings scandal, according to new polling.
Public opinion on both the prime minister and his government has turned rapidly after Mr Cummings admitted to having driven to Durham despite the coronavirus lockdown.
Overall government approval turned negative, to -2 per cent, according to data from polling group Savanta ComRes. That represents a drop of 16 points in just a single day.
Mr Johnson’s approval also turned negative as the scandal continued. it dropped from +19 per cent to -1 per cent since Friday, the same data showed.
Public opinion of individual ministers such as Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and chancellor Rishi Sunak also fell. Both ministers publicly backed Mr Cummings over the weekend.
At the same time, approval ratings for Labour leader Keir Starmer and medical advisors Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance increased over the weekend, the same data showed.
The latest polling figures reveal that the Prime Minister’s approval rating has dropped more than 35 points since the start of May, and is down by 48 points from its peak on 8 April.
In that same time period, Sir Keir’s approval rating fluctuated between 21 per cent and 3 per cent. It is currently at 12 per cent – nearly double its previous figure of 7 per cent.
The amount of worry about the coronavirus outbreak also dramatically plunged over the same period, to the lowest level of concern since the organisation began tracking.
The number of people saying they were very worried or the most worried they have ever been dropped by 9 points in just two days.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments