Sunak’s efforts to stop the boats too slow, say majority of Tory voters

Most Tory voters say Rishi Sunak’s efforts to stop the boats have been too slow, a poll has revealed.

Overall, 66 per cent of UK adults believe the Prime Minister’s attempts to halt the influx of Channel migrants has not been speedy enough, a Savanta survey for the Telegraph found.

Among Conservatives, the figure was 75 per cent – compared with 65 per cent among Labour voters. Mr Sunak made five pledges last January, one of which was to “stop the boats”.

In the early hours of Tuesday, Parliament finally passed his flagship Rwanda Bill after months of wrangling – a development the Government says will deter people from crossing the Channel.

It came as five people, including a seven-year-old girl, died while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat.

The poll, carried out from Friday to Sunday, found that just 20 per cent of the public believe the pledge to stop the boats has gone well, compared to 70 per cent who believe it has gone badly.

People also believe Mr Sunak has done worse on this pledge than any of the other four, including reducing NHS waiting lists (22 per cent) and cutting the national debt (30 per cent).

Labour had a popularity rating of 43 per cent compared to 27 per cent for the Tories – a rise of two points since last week.

The Prime Minister also suffered a large fall in his personal popularity. His net favourability fell by seven points to -24, while Sir Keir Starmer’s rating was -1, down three points.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, was on -12, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary on -14, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, on -17,and the whole Government on -30.

While 30 per cent thought Mr Sunak was the best candidate to hold the post of prime minister, 41 per cent opted for Sir Keir.

Forty-one per cent of UK adults said Lord Cameron appeared more prime ministerial than Mr Sunak, while 24 per cent said the PM appeared more statesmanlike than the Foreign Secretary.

Chris Hopkins, the political research director at Savanta, said: “Rishi Sunak needs the passing of the Rwanda scheme to be a game-changer for his premiership.

“His personal and party ratings continue to flatline, and trust in his ability to deliver in stopping the boats is incredibly low, in particular among Conservative voters. This increasingly feels like one last throw of the dice for the Prime Minister.

“Our research shows that he needs to get a move on. While our findings were taken shortly before the Rwanda Bill passed through Parliament, what really comes through is a sense of impatience from voters.

“Sunak and this Conservative Government have a credibility and deliver gap with voters, which they will desperately hope is addressed by the first flights to Rwanda taking off. It might already be too late for an increasingly cynical electorate.”

More than half – 56 per cent – of voters said they were unsure whether flights to Rwanda would ever take off, with just 27 per cent certain they will.

Using the RAF to charter flights to Rwanda had the approval of 32 per cent of those surveyed with 37 per cent opposing the move.

However, 52 per cent of 2019 Conservative voters supported the RAF’s involvement, with only 23 per cent opposing it. The figures are essentially the opposite for 2019 Labour voters, of whom 52 per cent opposed the idea and 21 per cent supported it.

The poll of 2,332 UK adults showed the public split on Israel’s decision to retaliate against Iran, with a third apiece saying Israel was right and wrong.

They are also fairly divided on whether the UK was right to intervene and shoot down Iranian drones fired at Israel, with 41 per cent saying Britain was right to intervene, and 36 per cent saying it was the wrong decision.