Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician in America, poll finds

The socialist has continued to campaign - even after being defeated in the Democratic primary

Independent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders walks outside the Capitol Building in Washington DC USA 02 August 2017 (EPA)

A new poll about the most popular and unpopular politicians in the US contained a lot of very interesting reading. But the person who was probably the most pleased, was Vermont senator Bernie Sanders who retained his crown as the single most liked elected politician with a national profile.

The Harvard-Harris Poll online survey of 2,263 registered voters found the 75-year-old, who challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, had a 54 per cent favourability rating among voters.

Around 36 per cent of voters had a negative view of the former mayor of Burlington.

The closest in the popularity stakes was Vice President Mike Pence, who had a favourability rating of 44 per cent. At the other end of the scale, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had the lowest favourability rating among elected officials, with just 19 per cent.

The veteran Republican who has repeatedly clashed with Donald Trump, had a worse rating than both Mr Trump and House Republican leader Paul Ryan.

Forty-nine percent of voters said they had a negative view of the Senate leader. The rest of those who were polled said they either did not know who Mr Connell was, or else did not know sufficient to form a firm opinion.

Meanwhile, the poll gave Mr Trump a positive rating of 41 per cent, considerably higher than