Boris Johnson's popularity plummets amid "pingdemic" and lockdown's easing

2 August 2021, 10:33 | Updated: 2 August 2021, 10:34

Boris Johnson's popularity has fallen in the wake of controversy about him self-isolating amid the "pingdemic" and his handling of England's release from lockdown.

The ConservativeHome website said its Cabinet League Table showed the Prime Minister's popularity had fallen by 36 points to 3 – his third lowest score since March 2020.

The poll of Tory members had previously given him a 93 per cent rating after the 2019 general election.

The website said: "It's possible that the Prime Minister's rating has recovered a bit since, but his and Rishi Sunak's original unwillingess to self-isolate during the "pingdemic", and the handling of opening-up itself, will have knocked a fair bit off his score.

"Lockdown opponents want all restrictions ended and zero Coviders want them all kept – or most of them, anyway. Then there is the prospect of vaccine passports. The Conservative slippage in the opinion polls is echoed in these findings."

It comes after YouGov found support for the Conservatives was eroding in so-called "blue wall" seats.

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The pollster found the Tories could lose up to 16 of 53 seats across the south and east of England which voted Remain in 2016 and have a higher-than-average concentration of people with degrees.

In the blue wall – the Conservative equivalent of Labour's red wall in the north, which saw several of its seats turn to the Tories in 2019 – 44 per cent said they would vote for Boris Johnson's party, while 24 per cent would go for Labour and 18 per cent prefer the Liberal Democrats.

Nationally, a recent YouGov poll found the Tories were backed by 39 per cent of voters, with Labour on 34.

ConservativeHome's survey found Liz Truss, the trade secretary, was the most popular cabinet member, with a satisfaction rating of 89 per cent, while chancellor Rishi Sunak was on 74 per cent.