Sunak’s government more popular than Labour, poll reveals

As the Tory leadership hustings continue, there’s a bit of good news for outgoing boss Rishi Sunak. It now transpires that more people prefer Sunak’s government to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot, according to polling by More in Common. In yet another blow for Starmer, the survey found the new government was less popular than Sunak’s by two points, with the current Prime Minister not yet being three months into the job. It’s hardly the best start…

More in Common quizzed 2,080 people on their thoughts on the governments of late. 31 per cent preferred Sunak’s boys in blue, with 29 per cent logging their support for Sir Keir. It follows Starmer’s rather bumpy ride in the top job, with his time as PM marred by accusations of cronyism, a freebie fiasco with considerable questions remaining about Labour donor Lord Alli, and backlash to unpopular policies like imposing VAT on private schools and cutting the winter fuel payment. In more bad news for Starmer, his personal approval rating has fallen, More in Common finds, by 38 points since his party won the election – down to -27 per cent.

While the Prime Minister hasn’t even enjoyed his first 100 days in power, already barely a fifth of voters believe his party can win the next national poll, with a third of Labour voters lamenting their support for the Starmtroopers. And although Nigel Farage’s party benefited from widespread disillusionment with the last government, polling shows that Reform voters are still eight times more likely to have preferred Sunak’s lot to the current crowd. How curious…

Sir Keir’s misfortunes are certainly helping brighten the mood at a Conservative party conference that one delegate described to Mr S as ‘directionless’, given uncertainty over how the leadership vote will go. Steerpike even spotted a Labour party member at Tory conference sporting a Tom Tugendhat badge – although they hurriedly insisted they were not deserting their own. Another party insider noted it was ‘incredible’ how far Labour has already fallen, joking: ‘They make us look a lot less dysfunctional.’ Quite…