Rishi Sunak’s approval rating sinks, says new polling
Rishi Sunak’s approval rating has dropped by 26 points since March as almost half the country think his latest Budget will be bad for them personally, according to new polling.
A poll out today from Ipsos MORI showed Sunak has an approval rating of +6, down from +32 in March, while 44 per cent of people said that last month’s Budget will be personally bad for them.
Just 28 per cent of people said the Budget would benefit them.
However, the same poll also found 40 per cent of people thought the autumn Budget would be good for the country, compared with 37 per cent who said it will not be.
The drop in poll ratings may reflect a bevy of tax rises Sunak has announced this year, which will by 2023 put the country’s tax burden at its highest for five decades.
The Budget also saw Sunak splash the cash post-Covid as he oversaw the largest increase in day-to-day departmental spending in 150 years.
The latest polling comes after the government has wound down many of its Covid emergency schemes, including the furlough scheme which saw the government pay millions of people’s wages.
Low-wage Brits are also facing a cost of living crisis as inflation is above expected levels and energy bills are expected to keep increasing in the new year.
Gideon Skinner, head of politics at Ipsos MORI, says of the findings: “Rishi Sunak’s first two pandemic budgets were relatively well-received. But what’s noticeable in the public reaction to his October Budget is the increase in people thinking it will be bad for them personally, even if they remain more positive about its impact on the country as a whole.
“This is reflected in the chancellor’s personal ratings, which have been dropping down over the last few months – although he’s still the first since Gordon Brown to keep public satisfaction consistently net positive for this long. The figures also provide a reminder for him and the government that it’s not just the economy where people want to see improvements – public services are a perennial concern for Britons too.”