Boris Johnson’s approval rating plummets nine points over bungled first week of easing out of lockdown
- Opinium poll showed 39 per cent of people backed Government’s response
- That number is down nine points on the 48 per cent recorded a week ago
- Means disapproval is now higher than approval for first time during outbreak
- Poll slump comes after Boris Johnson announced his plan to ease lockdown
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Public support for the Government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has dipped sharply in the last week after Boris Johnson set out his plan to ease lockdown.
The Prime Minister faced accusations from critics of confusing the nation with his three step plan to reopen Britain and of bungling a shift away from the Government’s ‘stay at home’ message.
A new Opinium survey suggests there has been a backlash among the public with disapproval for the PM’s response to the outbreak now higher than approval for the first time.
The poll found some 39 per cent of the nation are supportive of the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, down nine points on the 48 per cent recorded a week ago.
Meanwhile, those saying they disapproved of the Government rose from 36 per cent last week to 42 per cent.
Boris Johnson, pictured in Downing Street on May 14, is under pressure over the handling of his lockdown exit strategy announcement
A new survey conducted by Opinium found more people now disapprove of the Government’s handling of the crisis than approve for the first time since the outbreak started
Mr Johnson used an address to the nation last Sunday to set out how he intends to get the UK out of lockdown.
He ‘actively encouraged’ people who cannot work from home to return to work as he said primary schools could reopen in June with some hospitality services potentially following in July.
But he was heavily criticised over the plan for England as the other three Home Nations took more cautious approaches to lockdown.
He also replaced the Government’s ‘stay at home’ slogan with a more nuanced ‘stay alert’ message which many opponents condemned as meaningless.
Adam Drummond, the head of political polling at Opinium, said: ‘In part this was likely inevitable as the relatively simple and almost unanimous decision to lockdown has given way to much more contestable decisions about how and when to open up.
‘We have gone from a very simple and clearly understood message to a more nuanced situation with more confused messaging and a sense that the Government don’t have as firm a grip on the situation as voters would like.’
The new poll found that 53 per cent of people in England do not believe the ‘stay alert’ slogan is clear while less than a third (31 per cent) were able to identify where the UK is on the Government’s coronavirus alert scale – Level Four.
Mr Johnson has urged people not to use public transport if they are able to travel to and from work another way in order to alleviate pressure on train and bus services.
The survey suggests it will take some people a long time to feel safe travelling on public transport.
Mr Johnson’s personal approval rating has also taken a hit since he announced his plan to ease restrictions
Confidence in the Government’s ability to handle the coronavirus situation has also fallen
Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of people are confident they will use common sense when it comes to meeting relatives – but they are sceptical of the British public at large
Only one in seven people said they would feel comfortable travelling by train or bus in the current climate.
As well as pressure over his lockdown exit plan, Mr Johnson is also facing growing pressure from his rival, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
More than a third of people (35 per cent) said they approved of Sir Keir’s response to the crisis as opposed to 20 per cent who disapproved.
The overwhelming majority of people (87 per cent) are confident they will use ‘common sense’ when deciding whether to meet relatives outside in the coming weeks.
But they are much more sceptical of the British public at large, with 61 per cent saying they are not confident the nation will act is a wise manner.
Opinium conducted the survey of 2,005 UK adults online between May 13 and 14.