Boris Johnson is less popular with Conservative members than virtually any of his cabinet ministers, according to a new survey.
The regular monthly poll of a panel of Tory members by the ConservativeHome website put satisfaction with the prime minister at just 2.9, ahead of only health secretary Matt Hancock (0.4), housing secretary Robert Jenrick (minus-1.8) party chair Amanda Milling (minus-14.6) and education secretary Gavin Williamson (minus-22.5).
The unscientific survey - which subtracts the percentage dissatisfied with each minister from those who are satisfied to produce an overall rating - appears to reflect unhappiness in the party with last month’s lockdown and the months of restrictions on social and economic activity prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Johnson will no doubt hope that his popularity will be buoyed by this week’s announcement of the imminent rollout of a coronavirus vaccine, which came after the poll was taken.
International trade secretary Liz Truss topped the poll for the first time, with 75.4 per cent satisfaction, in the wake of trade deals with Canada and Japan.
But ConHome editor Paul Goodman said her elevation to top slot may owe more to a slide in satisfaction with chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has claimed pole position every month since April.
His mini-slump from 81 to 75 in the satisfaction ratings may reflect nervousness in the Tory ranks over his hints of future tax rises to pay for pandemic borrowing.
After starting the year sitting pretty at the top of the rankings on 91.6, Mr Johnson’s satisfaction ratings with the ConHome panel started to slide in June, hitting 63.6 after months of lockdown and the PM’s controversial defence of his adviser Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham.
The slump continued through the summer, reaching a low of minus-10.3 satisfaction in October, before bouncing back to 13.3 last month.
Following Ms Truss, the panel’s favourite cabinet members were Mr Sunak (74.6), defence secretary Ben Wallace (65.8) and foreign secretary Dominic Raab (63.5).
