Rishi Sunak’s approval ratings have failed to improve over the summer political break – despite several weeks of Tory policy blitzes intended to win back voters.
The latest Opinium survey for the Observer shows the Conservative have failed to shift the dial in Sunak’s favour, with the prime minister dropping two points in the past two weeks to a net score of -25% (24% approve, 49% disapprove).
Overall, Labour holds a healthy 14-point lead, with 42% of the vote share (+1 compared with a fortnight ago) against 28% for the Conservatives (+2). The Liberal Democrats are on 9% (-2), Reform UK is on 8% (-1) as is the Green party (+1).
Keir Starmer’s approval rating, while also negative, is far better than Sunak’s, with the Labour leader standing on -7% (28% approve, 35% disapprove).
Similarly, views about who would make the best prime minister have also remained stable – Starmer now leads with 27% choosing the Labour leader, versus 23% who prefer Sunak. While this support could be stronger for Starmer, there is no evidence that voters are moving to Sunak as Tory strategists had hoped.
In early July Sunak’s approval rating stood at -26, before the Tories decided to spend the summer focusing week by week on specific policy areas they believed would expose Labour’s weaknesses – such as crime, immigration, health and schools – and win them back support.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said: “Rishi Sunak’s ratings remain poor and have barely changed since July.”
The Tories’ “small boats week” last month was derailed by figures showing record numbers of crossings, the evacuation over a health scare of the Bibby Stockholm barge used to house migrants, and the deaths of at least six people when a small boat capsized and sank in the Channel.
Opinium found evidence that highlighting the issue did indeed raise its importance in the public’s mind, but had the effect of strengthening Labour’s lead on immigration.
Most recently, the government tried to focus on schools, only to be hit this weekend by a developing crisis over dangerous school buildings.
