The UK’s Labour party is extending its lead over the ruling Conservatives, according to a weekly YouGov poll for the Times newspaper.
(Bloomberg) — The UK’s Labour party is extending its lead over the ruling Conservatives, according to a weekly YouGov poll for the Times newspaper.
Tory support has fallen to 22%, its lowest level in four months, compared to 47% for Labour, giving the opposition a 25-point lead. Voter backing for the Liberal Democrats was 11% while the Greens are on 8%, the Times said. The newspaper didn’t disclose a margin of error.
With a general election less than 18 months away, only 15% of people said the government is handling the economy well, down four percentage points from last week, while 75% said it’s doing a bad job handling the country’s finances. While 31% would trust a Labour government led by Keir Starmer to run the economy, only 20% would chose Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives. The poll found 37% were unwilling to choose either party.
The government is facing severe economic challenges, with a cost-of-living crisis that threatens to plunge the economy into a recession. Inflation is coming down at a slower pace than in other developed countries, forcing the hand of the Bank of England to keep raising interest rates, and squeezing the finances of millions.
The poll was conducted before inflation data for May prompted the Bank of England to raise interest rates on June 22 to their highest level in 15 years. Currently, financial markets believe rates will need to go even higher to curb inflation, over 6%, levels not seen in more than two decades.
Starmer and Labour are now polling at only slightly lower levels than Tony Blair did before the 1997 general election. Over the next three months, the Tories could lose three more seats in the parliament through by-elections, including Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
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