British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seen his party’s ratings drop in the wake of the political crisis caused by a scandal over last year’s Downing Street Christmas celebrations.
A Times/YouGov poll, held on December 8-9 with the participation of 1,686 UK adults, puts the Tories at 33%, three percentage points down, while Labour is leading now with 37%, four points higher than the poll of December 1-2.
For Conservatives it is the worst rating for 11 months, while Labour’s lead is the biggest since January.
The survey was conducted at the height of the scandal prompted by a leaked video apparently showing Downing Street staffers joking and laughing about a party, allegedly held on December 18, 2020, during the strict Tier 3-level lockdown. The prime minister was forced to publicly apologize over the incident and to announce an internal review. The scandal over the video also prompted Johnson’s senior adviser Allegra Stratton’s resignation.
YouGov data shows that 78% of people believe that a rules-violating Christmas party actually took place, despite the government’s denials.
Another poll, conducted by Survation on December 8-9 with 1,178 UK adults taking part, has seen support for the opposition party rising to 40%, which is the record high of that survey since January 2019. Meanwhile, the popularity of Conservatives slumped to 34%, the lowest level since July 2019, when Boris Johnson became a prime minister.
“In terms of vote share, were these types of figures seen at the next General Election a Labour lead of this size would easily make Labour the largest party in the Commons with over 300 seats, albeit short of an overall majority,” the report said.
Seventy-eight percent of the respondents believe the Christmas party took place, with as much as 70% of Conservative voters sharing that opinion.