Rishi Sunak has been tipped for a “Lazarus-like” comeback with the British public, despite brutal polling on the one-year anniversary of his takeover at No 10.
A new YouGov survey marking the Tory leader’s first year as prime minister shows that only one in 10 voters think he is doing a good job.
Half the electorate now thinks Mr Sunak is doing a bad job at Downing Street – with 25 per cent saying the PM has been “poor” and another 25 per cent saying he had been “terrible”.
One third of voters (33 per cent) think he has been “average”, just 10 per cent say he had been “good” and only 1 per cent think he has been a “great” prime minister.
Despite his poor personal ratings and dire national polling for his party, a senior backbencher backed Mr Sunak to pull off a surprise general election victory in 2024.
Philip Davies, who presents his own GB News programme, said: “It would be like Lazarus to bring us back from when he took over a year ago. But if anybody can do it, I think he could do it.”
The veteran MP for Shipley added: “I couldn’t sit here today and say, ‘Oh, yes, we’re definitely going to win the next election’, I would be a fool to say that, wouldn’t I? We’ve got a mountain to climb and the odds are against us.”
“But if he sorts out the big issues facing the country, and if we make it an election about Sunak versus Starmer, rather than Conservative versus Labour, yeah, I think we’ve got a chance at least.”
Some Tory MPs have tried to take comfort from the by-election drubbings in the “super-safe” seats of Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire by claiming turnout was low and few voters are switching to Labour.
Sunak and Hunt under pressure to deliver tax cuts from Tory right— (Downing Street)
But others have claimed it such views are “deluded”, as a sense of despair takes hold about the party’s general election prospects.
“We are going to lose, Rishi has failed to do a bold enough reset,” one Tory minister told The Times. “Conference was perfectly all right but it didn’t shift the dial. These were minor policies. It’s not enough.”
With the Tory party conference failing to lead to any narrowing in the polls, Mr Sunak has been urged to consider a cabinet reshuffle.
There are rumours chancellor Jeremy Hunt could be in line for the axe. It follows speculation – denied by Mr Hunt’s camp – that he is preparing to stand down at the next election.
“Rishi needs to start wondering in the circumstances if the timid stance of Hunt is what we need,” a former cabinet minister told The Telegraph.
The Tory right has been out in force since the by-election losses to Labour, demanding Mr Sunak’s bring in tax cuts and pushes to leave the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) if the Rwanda court cases go against the government.
Three more senior Tories joined a tax rebellion. David Frost, Richard Drax and Matthew Offord signed a pledge refuse to vote through next month’s mini-Budget if Mr Hunt raises any taxes.
But moderates like Robert Buckland have urged Mr Sunak to stick to the focus on cutting inflation and restoring economic credibility to the party.
Meanwhile, the YouGov poll found that Mr Sunak’s personal ratings have slumped in several crucial areas during his 12 months at No 10.
Just 34 per cent think the PM is competent – down 16 points from a year ago. Only 20 per cent say he is strong (down 19 points on last year) and only 20 per cent believe he is trustworthy (down 10 points). Only 31 per cent said they trusted Mr Sunak on managing the economy (down 19 points).
The latest Savanta poll has found Labour up one on 46 points – stretching the lead enjoyed by Sir Keir Starmer’s party to 17 points.
