Tories overtake Labour in poll as Covid vaccine rollout gathers pace
Boris Johnson also saw a bounce in his personal rating
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Your support makes all the difference.The Tories have taken the lead over Labour, according to a new poll, as the government’s Covid vaccination programme continues to gather pace.
An Opinium poll for the Observer puts the Conservatives on 41 per cent, an increase of four percentage points compared with two weeks ago.
The survey puts Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on 38 percentage points, a slump of three percentage points, representing an overall swing of 7 percentage points.
Boris Johnson’s personal ratings also saw a bounce. Some 33 per cent of respondents said he would make the best prime minister, up from 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, 29 per cent of those spoken to for the poll said Sir Keir would make the better PM, down three percentage points.
Despite a drop for Labour and its leader in the poll, senior Tory Jeremy Hunt said he still viewed Sir Keir as a threat to his party’s electoral prospects.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge, the former health secretary said: “I think he’s a very serious threat, a much bigger threat than we’ve had for many years, indeed since Tony Blair. I would definitely say that, yes.”
The poll, which surveyed 2,000 UK adults between 28 and 29 January, showed increased approval of the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine programme.
That was despite voters being critical overall of the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Some 487,756 people received their first vaccine dose on 29 January, up from 414,419 on 28 January, according to government figures.
The number of people getting their shot has increased every day since 24 January, suggesting the government is on track to hit its target of inoculating everyone in the top four risk categories by mid-February.
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