As Beergate rumbles on, Opinium’s latest poll reveals the impact on Keir Starmer’s approval ratings, as his net approval rating falls to -10% (-4), with 28% (-1) approving of the job he’s doing while 38% (+3) disapprove. Meanwhile Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has risen by five percentage points to -28%.
Johnson and Starmer are now neck and neck when it comes to the public’s opinion on who the best prime minister would be, with 25% of the vote share respectively. However, 37% would pick neither.
Over half (54%) think that Johnson should resign as Conservative leader, with 32% thinking he should remain. For Starmer, 35% think he should remain as Labour lead, while 33% want him to resign.
Overall, Labour’s vote share has marginally increased since the last Opinium poll, to 37% (+1), ahead of the Conservatives on 34% (no change).
Beergate and Partygate
When it comes to Beergate, a third (31%) believe Starmer has been honest about what happened, whereas 37% think he has not. Two-thirds (65%) think he was right to say he would resign if he received a fixed penalty notice.
As a result of the scandal, almost a quarter (23%) say it has given them a more favourable view of the Labour leader compared to 10% who say it has given them a less favourable view. Around a third (35%) say they already had an unfavourable view and Beergate has had no impact.
Comparatively, for Johnson the Partygate accusations have led to a third (33%) saying they have a less favourable view of the leader, with just 4% having a more favourable view.
Local Elections
Following the results of last week’s local elections, almost two-thirds, 65%, think the Conservatives did badly, with just 18% thinking they did well. This compares to 59% who think Labour did well and 21% who think they did badly.
Views on the economy going from bad to worse
Following the last week’s interest rate decision and ahead of next week’s UK inflation announcement, as many as 70% think the state of the UK economy will get worse in the next 12 months – this is an increase of 10 percentage points since the last Opinium poll. Just 12% think the UK economy will get better.
Over half (55%) think their personal finances will get worse over the same period, while 26% think they will stay the same, and 16% (think they will get better. A fifth (21%) say they are struggling with their current financial situation.
Majority of Brits back the monarchy
As the Queen made her first public appearance in some time on Friday, the UK public shows its support of the Royals, as 59% thinks Britain should continue to have a monarchy, while 23% think it should become a republic.
Almost two-thirds (64%) believe there is still a place for the monarchy in modern Britain (19% disagree), and 48% think it helps keep Britain united.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium said, “A media focus on Beergate was never going to be the best talking point for the Labour leader after the local elections, and this is reflected in the hit to his net approval ratings that now sit at -10.
“Nevertheless, voters are much more likely to give Keir Starmer the benefit of the doubt that he acted appropriately than the prime minister, while almost a quarter have actually gained a more favourable view of him for the way he has responded to the accusations by promising to resign if he is fined by the police.”
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