Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has seen his personal popularity take a significant hit in the wake of the Post Office scandal, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
Davey was one of a series of ministers responsible for the Post Office during the crisis, holding the role between 2010 and 2012. He has received criticism after a letter emerged in which he refused to meet Alan Bates, the former postmaster and campaigner fighting for justice, telling him: “I do not believe a meeting would serve any useful purpose.”
Several Tory MPs in seats where they are being challenged by the Lib Dems have already been highlighting Davey’s role on social media, in the wake of huge public interest in the scandal that saw the Post Office prosecute hundreds of subpostmasters based on evidence from a faulty computer system. Davey was also the first minister to meet with Bates in October 2010. He has said he was lied to “on an industrial scale” by the Post Office.
Conservative MPs Maria Caulfield, Bim Afolami, Steve Brine and John Redwood - all of whom face a Lib Dem threat - are among those to have highlighted the stories about Davey. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said they were using a “historic miscarriage of justice as a political football”.
However, the hit to Davey’s personal ratings does not seem to have affected the Lib Dems’ popularity overall. The party has 11% of the vote, unchanged from the vote share in the final poll of 2023. The overall poll is also largely unchanged, with Labour on 41% and the Tories on 27%.
Davey’s personal ratings - the difference between those who think he is doing a good or bad job - have fallen from -4% to -13% in the most recent poll. Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak’s approval ratings have remained broadly stable since before Christmas. Starmer leads Sunak by 30% to 22% on who voters regard as the best prime minister.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said: “At the top level, not much has changed since before Christmas. Labour still leads by double digits, Keir Starmer’s approval rating isn’t brilliant but Rishi Sunak’s is awful. However, the most noticed story by far was the Post Office scandal and this is behind the drop in Ed Davey’s approval rating.
“The Lib Dems will be worried that the first time their leader has cut through to voters is for his connection to a huge scandal. But, while Labour and the Tories may be relieved that fingers aren’t being pointed at them, they and the rest of us should be concerned if important questions about how national institutions operate devolve into yet another edition of ‘which politician you’ve never heard of is going to resign?’”
