Exclusive: Labour takes seven-point lead in new City PM poll
Labour has taken a seven-point lead over the Conservatives in a new poll, with key local elections just weeks away.
Forty per cent of people said they would vote for Labour in the next General Election in a BMG Research/City A.M. poll, while the Conservatives polled 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats eight per cent.
The poll also found Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has a -4 per cent approval rating and Boris Johnson is down to -34, after the Prime Minister was this month handed a police fine for breaking Covid rules.
The Conservatives are also being damaged by the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis, which more than half of respondents said was the most important issue facing the UK.
There will be local elections for 200 councils across the UK on 5 May in what is being seen as a major litmus test for Johnson’s premiership post-partygate.
Major swings against the Tories could see calls for Johnson to resign grow louder, after a trickle of Tory MPs this week began to call for the Prime Minister to go.
The Metropolitan Police investigation into partygate is ongoing, with Johnson widely expected to receive more fines for other Downing Street events he attended during times of Covid restrictions.
Jack Curry, BMG research pollster, said: “It is not unusual to see a mid-term incumbent being handed embarrassing local election results, but in some cases, including with Theresa May and Tony Blair, they were shortly followed by rejection by their party as well as the electorate.
“With a potentially embarrassing parliamentary inquiry upcoming and a police investigation still ongoing, a bad result come May could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for wavering Tory MPs.”
Source Note: BMG Research interviewed a representative sample of 1,742 British adults online on the 12th and 13th of April. Data are weighted. BMG are members of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules. Please note this poll was conducted prior to the announcement of a parliamentary inquiry into claims Boris Johnson misled parliament.