New polling has highlighted strong public dissatisfaction with how the government is running the country (especially amongst mortgage holders) and increased public pessimism about the state of the economy.
The Ipsos survey found eight in ten Brits are dissatisfied with the way the government is running the country compared to just 12 per cent who say they are satisfied.
This gives Rishi Sunak’s party a net satisfaction of -68, the lowest net satisfaction rating since he became prime minister and effectively the joint worst rating the Conservative government has had since the 2019 General Election (Liz Truss’ government registering a -69 in October).
Mortgage holders are notably dissatisfied with the government’s performance. Nine in ten are dissatisfied while just 9 per cent are satisfied.
It comes after rising interest rates threaten to plunge millions into misery, with no suggestion that there will be any help on the horizon.
Commenting on the findings, Gideon Skinner, head of politics at Ipsos said: “It’s been a difficult few weeks for the Conservatives, with the re-emergence of partygate and continuing concerns about inflation and interest rates.
“This is reflected in our polling data on the fundamentals of government performance and the economy – 80 per cent government dissatisfaction is well below the long term Ipsos average, and has only ever been worse under John Major 1992-95 and Theresa May in 2019.
“Rishi Sunak’s personal ratings have also taken a dip, and while Keir Starmer’s ratings are also only average this hasn’t yet stopped Labour reinforcing its lead.
“Delivery on the economy and public services will be key to hopes the Conservatives might have of kick-starting their recovery, but at the moment there is a distinct lack of optimism among the public – particularly mortgage holders and renters – that things will get better.”
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