The public haven’t warmed to the Tories
At the time of writing, we don’t know whether Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch will be the next leader of the Conservative Party. But we do know they’ve got a mighty uphill struggle to turn around the party’s fortunes after its worst ever general election defeat.
New polling has firmly driven this home. The headline figures from YouGov’s latest poll on the Tory leadership election will make grim reading in Tory circles.
Here are the 8 key stats you need to know from the poll:
- Keir Starmer has a 7 point lead over Kemi Badenoch on who would make the best prime minister. 27% of the public say Starmer, compared to 20% who say Badenoch.
- Those figures are marginally worse for Robert Jenrick. 29% of the public say Starmer would be the better PM, compared to 21% wo say Jenrick.
- Robert Jenrick has a -27% favourability rating. Just 13% of the public say they have a favourable opinion of him, compared to 40% who say they have an unfavourable one.
- Kemi Badenoch’s favourability is worse, at -33%. Just 12% of the public say they have a favourable rating of her, compared to 45% who say they have a unfavourable one.
- Just 16% of the public think Kemi Badenoch would make a good Conservative Party leader. That’s less than half of those who think she’d make a bad leader – 35%.
- Robert Jenrick doesn’t get a ringing endorsement either, with only 17% of the public thinking he would make a good Conservative Party leader. 31% say he’d make a bad leader.
- In spite of all this, it turns out the public don’t really care who wins. Just 19% of the public say they care a great deal or a fair amount about whether Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch become the next Conservative Party leader. A whopping 71% of people say they don’t care very much or at all.
- And the public think the Tories are irrelevant. Over half (51%) of the public say the Tories are not relevant to British politics at the moment, compared to just 35% who think they are relevant.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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