Latest Ipsos poll shows Tories at their lowest rating in 45 years

Support for the Conservatives has fallen to its lowest level in 45 years, according to the latest Ipsos poll.

The Tories’ vote share has fallen to just 19 per cent – a record low for the second consecutive month – with Labour leading by 25 points on 44 per cent.

And in a further blow for Rishi Sunak, his personal approval ratings are now at the worst level in the history of Ipsos polling – equivalent only to John Major in 1994 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

They have divebombed to -59, an all-time record low, as three quarters of voters say they are dissatisfied with the Conservative leader.

Meanwhile, the right-wing challenger party Reform UK are snapping at the Tory’s heels with 13 per cent of the vote share.

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Crucially, 84 per cent of voters say they are dissatisfied with the way the government is running the country, with only one in 10 people saying they are satisfied.

The news comes on the back of yet another challenging week for Mr Sunak as his flagship Rwanda bill experienced yet more delays as peers moved to block the legislation from gaining royal assent.

Peers insisted on further revisions of the bill, meaning it is set to face another round of back and forth between the two houses of parliament next week.

The prime minister has now been forced to abandon his commitment to get flights off the ground to Rwanda by the end of spring, despite having previously pledged that would be the case.

His party is also once again gripped by sleaze as Tory MP Mark Menzies was suspended after he was alleged to have misused campaign funds to pay off “bad people” who were demanding money for his release.

A spokesman for Tory chief whip Simon Hart said Mr Menzies had agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation, meaning he will now sit as an independent MP.

According to the The Times, £14,000 given by donors for use on Tory campaign activities was transferred to Mr Menzies’ personal bank accounts and used for private medical expenses.

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Mr Sunak is just weeks away from local elections where his party are expected to receive a drubbing as voters turf out Tory councillors across the country and regional mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen anticipate potentially losing their seats.

The prime minister has been warned that if local elections are particularly bad for his party, colleagues could force yet another leadership election.

Today’s polling reveals that voters overwhelmingly back Labour leader Keir Starmer over Mr Sunak, with 44 per cent saying Sir Keir would make the more capable prime minister, and just 22 per cent saying the same for Mr Sunak.

Significantly, the latest polling suggested that another leader would not help the Conservatives chances of staying in number 10, as the Labour leader beats all the widely-tipped favourites to replace Mr Sunak, including Penny Mordaunt by 17 points (42% to 25%), James Cleverly by 29 points (47% to 18%) and Kemi Badenoch by 34 points (48% to 14%).

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos, said “there’s no doubt that Rishi Sunak’s ratings are historically poor”, but it’s “still not clear the extent to which this a symptom rather than a cause of the Conservatives’ wider problems”.

He added: “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.”