UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party made up significant ground on the Labour opposition in one poll conducted just days after the budget found.
(Bloomberg) — UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party made up significant ground on the Labour opposition in one poll conducted just days after the budget found.
While the survey by Deltapoll is at odds with other recent polls, it showed support for the Tories jumped to 35%, leaving them just 10 points behind Keir Starmer’s party. Sunak’s party made up 13 points on Labour in the course of just one week.
The survey is a boost for the Conservatives, who have trailed Labour by 20 points and more in most surveys in recent months. The first major narrowing of the polling gap seen since Sunak’s premiership began in October comes less than a week after Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt delivered the UK’s annual budget. It also follows recent announcements including a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland and a policy aimed at tackling small-boat migration.
Former Downing Street pollster James Johnson called the Deltapoll survey “very significant” although another poll released on Monday, by Redfield & Wilton, put Labour 21 points ahead — in line with recent trends. YouGov gave Labour a 19-point lead two days after the budget.
Labour pulled away from the Conservatives in September last year, when then-Prime Minister Liz Truss sparked market upheaval and sent mortgage rates soaring by announcing a series of unfunded tax cuts. That gap persisted for months, but Monday’s survey may be a sign Sunak is starting to turn his party’s fortunes around.
As well as party popularity, the two leaders’ approval ratings have also shifted. Sunak saw his approval rating rise from -11 to -9, which Starmer’s dropped by 5 points, to 7, according to Deltapoll.
Sunak faces twin challenges in the coming week, with a vote on his post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland in Parliament on Wednesday and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson testifying in front of the privileges committee on the same day.
(Updates with YouGov survey in fourth paragraph.)
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