Yahoo News Boris Johnson has grown in popularity since becoming Prime Minister despite Brexit uncertainty
Boris Johnson’s popularity has risen since he became Prime Minister, a new poll has suggested.
Data collected by polling agency YouGov showed that the ongoing Brexit chaos hasn’t adversely affected the PM’s favourability figures.
In total 38 per cent of Britons say they have a favourable view of Mr Johnson, compared to 54 per cent with an unfavourable opinion of him.
Despite a net score of -16, the figures are an improvement on his initial score of -21 when he first assumed office.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s net score was far lower than Mr Johnson’s at -49.
A total of 21 per cent of people said they hold a positive opinion of him and 70 per cent a negative one.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Johnson has experienced a boost of 21 points among Conservative voters and a 16 point increase among Leave voters.
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He has also only experienced modest declines in other parts of the electorate, with a decrease of 4 points among Labour voters and Remain voters.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker sat down for their first face-to-face talks in a restaurant in Mr Juncker’s native Luxembourg.
Following their talks, the commission said Mr Johnson had still not made legally operational proposals to replace the backstop – the controversial contingency measure which keeps the UK closely tied to EU rules to prevent the return of a hard border with Ireland.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel went further, warning that EU citizens were facing mounting uncertainty due to Brexit while standing next to an empty podium after Mr Johnson pulled out of a joint appearance.
“You can’t hold their future hostage for party political gains,” Mr Bettel said.
Gesturing to the empty space where Mr Johnson should have been, Mr Bettel said: “Now it’s on Mr Johnson – he holds the future of all UK citizens and every EU citizen living in the UK in his hands.
“It’s his responsibility. Your people, our people, count on you – but the clock is ticking, use your time wisely.”
The Prime Minister repeated his assertion that the UK will leave the EU on October 31 with or without a deal despite the law passed by Parliament calling for an extension to the Brexit process if an agreement has not been reached by October 19.
