Keir Starmer extends ‘best PM’ advantage over Rishi Sunak as Tory leader’s popularity with activists turns negative amid fears over looming by-elections
Keir Starmer has extended his ‘best PM’ advantage over Rishi Sunak amid signs Tory activists are losing faith.
The Labour leader is 17 points ahead of the premier in the latest Redfield & Wilton Strategies research.
That is seven points more than last week, and the joint highest gap recorded by the firm.
Meanwhile, the regular Cabinet rankings produced by the ConservativeHome site show that Mr Sunak has dropped into negative territory again.
The panel ratings – which are not altogether scientific but closely watched in Westminster – show he has dived from a score of plus 21 in August to minus three.
The Labour leader is 17 points ahead of the premier in the latest Redfield & Wilton Strategies research
Meanwhile, the regular Cabinet rankings produced by the ConservativeHome site show that Mr Sunak has dropped into negative territory again
Kemi Badenoch topped the chart on plus 59, although that was significantly lower than Ben Wallace’s 76 points before he quit the government.
Penny Mordaunt was in second on 48. Gillian Keegan has slumped from 22 points to 10 amid her struggles with the crumbling concrete crisis.
The Redfield survey, conducted on Sunday, found that when people were asked who would make the better PM out of Mr Sunak and Sir Keir 29 per cent plumped for the former and 46 per cent the latter.
Mr Sunak’s support on the metric was down five points and Sir Keir’s up two points since August 27.
The bleak findings come with the Tories facing the prospect of a double by-election nightmare.
Former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher yesterday failed in his bid to overturn the finding of a probe that he ‘groped’ two people in a bar last year.
Mr Pincher now faces having an eight-week suspension rubber-stamped by MPs, paving the way for a recall petition – with speculation he could opt to resign his Tamworth constituency.
Nadine Dorries’ old Mid Beds seat is already up for grabs following her resignation, meaning that Mr Sunak could end up holding his first Conservative conference as premier next month in the shadow of two Commons contests.
The Labour leader hailed his ‘hungry’ reshuffled front bench as they met this morning
Mr Sunak’s mooted ‘reset’ has been largely overshadowed by the crisis over crumbling concrete in schools
Sir Keir and Mr Sunak showed off their rival teams today as they kicked off the election run-in.
The Labour leader hailed his ‘hungry’ reshuffled front bench on a Reservoir Dogs-style walk through Westminster.
Sir Keir was flanked by Angela Rayner – who has officially been made shadow deputy PM – and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves after promoting a host of Blairites.
Meanwhile, the PM has assembled his Cabinet for the first time since making limited changes to replace departing Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
But the mooted Tory ‘reset’ has been largely overshadowed by the crisis over crumbling concrete in schools.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s bruising week continued this morning as the No10 door failed to open when she arrived for Cabinet – forcing her to knock to be let in.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman was also left waiting awkwardly on the threshold of the famous building.
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