LONDON: Boris Johnson has topped a public poll to pick out the leaders deemed to have done a terrible job as prime minister, the pollster said. Ipsos found in a new survey just days before his term ends next week.
The outgoing prime minister was rated poorly by about 49% of the British public asked to rate the performance of post-war British leaders since 1945.
The figure is even worse than his predecessors, with about 41% saying Theresa May did a terrible job and 38% choosing David Cameron. Johnson’s proclaimed political hero, Winston Churchill, topped the survey of post-war Prime Ministers with 62% saying the wartime leader did a great job.
Keiran Pedley, director of political studies at Ipsos, said: “Winston Churchill continues to top the list of Prime Ministers that the public thinks have done a great job in office, followed by Margaret Thatcher.
“Boris Johnson would be reasonably pleased to be fourth on that list but less happy to be at the top of the list for having done a terrible job,” he said.
Of the 1,100 people surveyed by Ipsos, Johnson had the fourth best job, with about 33% saying the party’s scandal-ridden outgoing leader had done a good job in office, trailing behind. Tony Blair with 36%. and Margaret Thatcher 43%.
His net rating in the Ipsos poll, conducted August 19-22, is minus 16, compared to minus 13 for Theresa May and negative 8. However, Ipsos points out that there is a degree. Certain “recent bias” in the top of the bad job list.
“Time will tell how Johnson’s legacy is judged, as we see in improved scores for [former Labour Prime Minister] Over time, Gordon Brown, today’s negative perceptions are likely to soften in the future,” added Pedley.
Ipsos found that pollsters saying Brown did a good job increased from 24% in February 2021 to 31% in August 2022, while the number of people saying he did a good job bad jobs dropped from 37% to 31%.
Meanwhile, Johnson is on a farewell tour of the UK before officially leaving office after his successor is named – or former Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak or Foreign Minister Liz Truss – at the end of the Conservative Party leadership election on Monday.
He used a keynote speech on the final stop of his tour in Suffolk, eastern England, on Thursday to confirm the government’s commitment to invest £700 million in a one-share purchase deal. significantly, said to be about 20%, of a new stock. nuclear power plant. The Sizewell plant is planned in the area and is expected to generate enough energy to power 6 million homes, or a fifth of all homes in the UK.
Johnson has used his final days to promote nuclear energy as “cheap, clean, reliable and abundant” to address the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the rising global cost of oil and gas. increase.
“In 13 wasted years, the Labor government has done absolutely nothing to develop the country’s nuclear industry – they say it makes no economic sense. Say it to UK businesses and industries that are lacking affordable electricity, say it to families struggling with heating and lighting costs this winter,” Johnson said. , blamed the Opposition.
It marked the end of his final week as British prime minister on a so-called prime minister’s tour, taking part in a police raid in south London and launching a new submarine in Barrow. -on-Furness, northwest England.
The outgoing prime minister was rated poorly by about 49% of the British public asked to rate the performance of post-war British leaders since 1945.
The figure is even worse than his predecessors, with about 41% saying Theresa May did a terrible job and 38% choosing David Cameron. Johnson’s proclaimed political hero, Winston Churchill, topped the survey of post-war Prime Ministers with 62% saying the wartime leader did a great job.
Keiran Pedley, director of political studies at Ipsos, said: “Winston Churchill continues to top the list of Prime Ministers that the public thinks have done a great job in office, followed by Margaret Thatcher.
“Boris Johnson would be reasonably pleased to be fourth on that list but less happy to be at the top of the list for having done a terrible job,” he said.
Of the 1,100 people surveyed by Ipsos, Johnson had the fourth best job, with about 33% saying the party’s scandal-ridden outgoing leader had done a good job in office, trailing behind. Tony Blair with 36%. and Margaret Thatcher 43%.
His net rating in the Ipsos poll, conducted August 19-22, is minus 16, compared to minus 13 for Theresa May and negative 8. However, Ipsos points out that there is a degree. Certain “recent bias” in the top of the bad job list.
“Time will tell how Johnson’s legacy is judged, as we see in improved scores for [former Labour Prime Minister] Over time, Gordon Brown, today’s negative perceptions are likely to soften in the future,” added Pedley.
Ipsos found that pollsters saying Brown did a good job increased from 24% in February 2021 to 31% in August 2022, while the number of people saying he did a good job bad jobs dropped from 37% to 31%.
Meanwhile, Johnson is on a farewell tour of the UK before officially leaving office after his successor is named – or former Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak or Foreign Minister Liz Truss – at the end of the Conservative Party leadership election on Monday.
He used a keynote speech on the final stop of his tour in Suffolk, eastern England, on Thursday to confirm the government’s commitment to invest £700 million in a one-share purchase deal. significantly, said to be about 20%, of a new stock. nuclear power plant. The Sizewell plant is planned in the area and is expected to generate enough energy to power 6 million homes, or a fifth of all homes in the UK.
Johnson has used his final days to promote nuclear energy as “cheap, clean, reliable and abundant” to address the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the rising global cost of oil and gas. increase.
“In 13 wasted years, the Labor government has done absolutely nothing to develop the country’s nuclear industry – they say it makes no economic sense. Say it to UK businesses and industries that are lacking affordable electricity, say it to families struggling with heating and lighting costs this winter,” Johnson said. , blamed the Opposition.
It marked the end of his final week as British prime minister on a so-called prime minister’s tour, taking part in a police raid in south London and launching a new submarine in Barrow. -on-Furness, northwest England.
