Far more Brits think Sturgeon has handled coronavirus better than Johnson, poll reveals

Nearly half of Brits believe the Scottish government has handled the coronavirus pandemic better than Westminster, a new survey has revealed.

Both Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon’s governments have taken different approaches to lifting lockdown restrictions.

The Scottish first minister decided to extend Scotland’s restrictions as the prime minister began to ease them in May - despite the two nations imposing curfews at the same time on 23 March.

But as Johnson faces pressure over the Dominic Cummings scandal and the second stage of easing of restrictions from Monday, a large portion of Brits think Holyrood has handled the crisis better than the Tory government.

A new YouGov survey of 2883 adults asked the question: “Which country do you think has handled the coronavirus outbreak better between England and Scotland?”

The results, published today, show a majority of UK citizens - 44% - believe Nicola Sturgeon’s government in Scotland had handed the COVID-19 crisis well.

The figure was a stark contrast to Boris Johnson, with only 14% of those surveyed saying Westminster had handled the outbreak better than Holyrood.

Meanwhile a quarter - or 25% - believe both nations had handled the crisis the same, while a further 17% said they didn’t know.

Of the respondents in favour of Scotland, 68% were based in the country, while 48% were based in London.

Just 13% of those surveyed in London said Boris Johnson had done a good job, while just 7% of Scots supported the Conservative government’s strategy.

Meanwhile another YouGov poll, also conducted on 29 May, showed a large portion of people do not ‘strongly support’ Johnson’s rule that groups of six people can meet in gardens and parks from Monday.

Of 2883 people surveyed, only 26% said they strongly supported the new rule, while 40% said they “somewhat support” it. A further 9% said they strongly opposed the move.

It also emerged on Friday that the government eased lockdown restrictions in England despite the coronavirus threat level remaining “high”.

The PM’s official spokesman admitted the coronavirus threat level remains at 4.

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