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Keir Starmer overtakes Boris Johnson in best Prime Minister poll

Emily Cleary
·2-min read
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the House of Commons during question period as opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer looks on, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in London, Britain May 20, 2020. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IMAGE CAN NOT BE ALTERED IN ANY FORM. MANDATORY CREDIT
Labour leader Keir Starmer has overtaken Boris Johnson in a poll of who Britons wold most like to run the country (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has overtaken Boris Johnson as the person Britons would most like to run the country.

A YouGov poll published on Friday put Starmer 10% ahead of the incumbent PM for popularity.

Over a third of Britons (36%) think the Labour leader would make a better head of government, compared with 26% for Johnson. Just over a third (36%) remain undecided.

The latest YouGov/Times voting intention figures also showed Labour with 40% of the vote, meaning they're now ahead of the Conservative Party who have 35%. Last week the two parties were neck and neck with 38% each.

Labour's popularity has soared, with the Conservatives' on a steady gradual decline since August (YouGov)
Labour's popularity has soared, with the Conservatives' on a steady gradual decline since August (YouGov)

Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats would have 7% of the vote if an election were called tomorrow (+1), the Greens have 4% (-1), and the Brexit Party are on 6% (+2).

A poll caried out by YouGov put Labour ahead of the Conservatives when it comes to voting intentions in the UK (YouGov)
A poll caried out by YouGov put Labour ahead of the Conservatives when it comes to voting intentions in the UK (YouGov)

On Monday, Starmer said Johnson’s ‘catastrophic failure of leadership’ had seen him ‘ignore the reality’ of the increasing COVID problems in the UK for 40 days.

He said Sage, the government scientific advisers, recommended a shorter “circuit break” lockdown on 21 September when there were 11 COVID-19 deaths and 4,000 infections.

Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks to reporters outside the BBC headquarters after appearing on The Andrew Marr Show, in London, Britain, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls
Britain's opposition leader Keir Starmer has attacked Boris Johnson for not acting quickly enough in imposing a second nationwide lockdown (REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)

Now, he said, the longer-lasting restrictions of a second nationwide lockdown were implemented as the country recorded more than 300 deaths and 22,000 cases each day.

Responding to Starmer, who said Labour would back the lockdown measures despite his criticism of the government, Johnson said: “I am grateful to (Starmer) for supporting these measures and I think he is right to do so.

“But I make absolutely no apology whatever for doing my level best, our level best as a government, to avoid going back into a national lockdown with all the damage that entails for people’s livelihoods, for people’s mental health, for jobs across this country.”

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