UK Conservatives fall behind in polls as sleaze scandal outrage grows

The ruling UK Conservative Party has fallen behind the opposition Labour Party as a sleaze and corruption scandal threatens to engulf Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to an opinion poll published on Monday.

An Ipsos MORI survey for London’s Evening Standard newspaper put the Conservatives on 35%, down four points on September, with Labour unchanged on 36%, and the Greens making a sharp gain of five points to 11%. The Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 9%.

In a further blow to the increasingly beleaguered Johnson, a majority of adults in Britain disagree that he is suitable as prime minister. Worryingly for him, the poll was largely conducted before a sleaze scandal involving former minister Owen Paterson erupted last week.

Politicians on all side of parliament were outraged when Johnson ordered his party to ram through a vote approving plans to rip up the disciplinary rules for MPs and stop a 30-day suspension for Paterson after he was found guilty of breaching lobbying rules.

In a humiliating and screeching u-turn 24 hours later, Johnson infuriated his own MPs by effectively throwing Paterson under the bus when opposition parties refused to sit on the committee established to oversee the rulebook rewrite.

Paterson promptly resigned his parliamentary seat having heard of Johnson’s about-face from a journalist. In interviews on Monday the prime minister refused to apologise for the debacle, having dodged an emergency debate in parliament on the matter.

PM UNDER FIRE ON SEVERAL FRONTS

Johnson and his government are now mired in sleaze and cronyism allegations. The prime minister is under pressure to disclose the value of a free holiday at a Spanish villa owned by the family of failed London mayoral candidate and former MP Zac Goldsmith – who was given a peerage soon after being rejected by voters at the 2019 general election.

There is also the prospect of an investigation into the £200,000 refurbishment of Johnson's Downing Street flat, while over the weekend it emerged that most Tory treasurers over the past 20 years who have donated at least £3m to the party have been offered peerages.

Furthermore, voters are facing tax rises and lower government spending across many government departments, with even those getting more cash still seeing spending levels at or below 2010 levels when the Tories took power.

The survey found that 55% of adults disagree that Johnson has what it takes to be a good prime minister, with 34% saying he does, giving him a net score of -21. This is a sharp drop from +2 in June, and the lowest score since June 2019, a month before he took power.

More than two-thirds of people say they are dissatisfied with Johnson, and 34 per satisfied, giving a net score of -27, a big drop from -12 in September. It also equals his lowest satisfaction rating as prime minister, which was last October as he faced mounting criticism for his handling of the pandemic.

The government as a whole comes in for even harsher treatment, with 62% dissatisfied, and 29%, a net score of -33, compared to -16 in September, the worst since last October.

Almost half of adults – 48% - said the government is handling the Covid-19 pandemic badly, up 12 points on September, and 36 said it was doing well, down eight points.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “The Conservatives are facing challenges on a number of fronts.”

“The pandemic is far from over with high levels of infections, while we are also seeing worries about the economy, the NHS, the knock-on effects of Brexit, and other issues, all leading to rising concerns about the direction of the country - even before any long-term impact of the standards row last week."

“Climate change is also in the news and in the public’s priorities, which may help to explain the notably good figure for the Greens.”