Coronavirus: Boris Johnson’s popularity ratings fall as ‘rallying around effect’ starts to fade, new poll shows

'Signs some of the rallying-around effect we saw after the first lockdown announcements and Boris Johnson’s subsequent illness are falling away', says Ipsos Mori

The bounce in public support for Boris Johnson at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has started to fall away, a new poll has found.

The number of people who feel favourably towards for the prime minister dropped by 6 points since last month – when he was battling the virus in intensive care – to 45 per cent in May, according to a survey by Ipsos Mori.

And more than a third of people (38 per cent) said they feel unfavourably towards Mr Johnson, a rise of 7 per cent since last month.

Among Tory voters, his popularity has fallen from 91 per cent last month to 79 per cent this month, in line with his average ratings earlier in the year.

While the prime minister was more popular than before the lockdown was announced, pollsters said the “rallying-around effect” was beginning to fade.

Mr Johnson remains more popular than the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who is seen favourably by 34 per cent of the population – an increase of 8 points on last month.

However chancellor Rishi Sunak remains the most popular politician, with 47 per cent feeling favourable towards him compared to just 18 per cent who felt unfavourable towards him.

The public was split on Matt Hancock, the health secretary, who was popular with a third of respondents (33 per cent) and unpopular with another third (33 per cent).

The proportion of Britons saying Britain is moving in the right direction has fallen seven points to 33 per cent since last month, whereas 42 per cent thought the country was on the wrong track - up seven points since last month.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “There are signs some of the rallying-around effect we saw after the first lockdown announcements and Boris Johnson’s subsequent illness are falling away.

“But they haven’t completely disappeared – the prime minister is still getting better feedback than earlier in the year, or even before the election."

On the Labour leader, he said: "Keir Starmer also gets more supporters than critics, and the Labour party has lost at least some of the negative reaction it was generating before.

“As people continue to make their mind up over the new Labour leader, it will be crucial for him to keep first impressions positive.”

Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,126 British adults online from 15 – 18 May 2020. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.