Labour have increased their lead by 4 points in the last fortnight, gaining two points while the Conservatives dropped two, taking Labour from a 14 to an 18-point lead at 44 per cent.
The Conservatives are now on 26 per cent, with 20 per cent of those who voted Conservative in 2019 now having switched their vote directly to Labour.
Sunak’s approval continues to decline.
Only a quarter (26 per cent) of the public approve of Rishi Sunak’s performance as Prime Minister, with 44 per cent disapproving (-18 net approval), continuing the decline from -12 net approval during 12-14th April and -6 net approval on the 4-6th April.
Kier Starmer is on -3 per cent (rounded) with 31 per cent approving and 33 per cent disapproving (numbers which have remained steady).
However, the two leaders remain far closer on who would be the ‘best prime minister’ with Keir Starmer at 28 per cent and Rishi Sunak at 26 per cent. A plurality continue to say ‘none of these’ (31 per cent).
The Conservative Party brand remains in a particularly weak place, although the last month has shown early signs of improvement. Across the values polled the Conservatives were net disagree in all of them.
Only a quarter of people (26 per cent) agreed that the Conservative party has a clear sense of purpose although this is up +5 from March. On ‘knows what it stands for’ the Conservatives are -8 although this is an improvement of +7, with 39% disagreeing to 31 per cent agreeing.
The Conservatives will be particularly concerned that only 23 per cent trust the party to take big decisions, actually down from 24 per cent from late October when Sunak took his post as PM. Similarly, only 22 per cent think the party is competent (unchanged from October).
The Labour Party “brand” is also a mixed picture, with the past month showing signs of decline across all its values. The party has dropped -12% on being ‘united’ since March, with 31 per cent agreeing to 37 per cent disagreeing (net -6 per cent). Labour have also dropped -11 per cent on having a clear sense of purpose and -9% on knowing what they stand for.
People disagree and agree in equal measure (36 per cent) on whether Labour is ‘ready for government’, although more people agreed Labour were competent (32 per cent) than the Conservatives (22 per cent).
Over half of people (52 per cent) disagree that the Conservatives have the nations best interests at heart with just under a quarter (23 per cent) agreeing. Conversely, 40 per cent agreed that the Labour party have the nation’s best interests at heart with only 29 per cent disagreeing.
Over half (56 per cent) disagreed that the Conservatives represent what the people think, with 17 per cent agreeing, while 68 per cent disagreed that the Conservatives are in touch with ordinary people (17 per cent agreed). This is down 4 points from March from net -44 per cent to -48 per cent.
For Labour, 34 per cent agree the party represents what most people think and only 32 per cent disagree. 41 per cent of people agree the Labour party is in touch with ordinary people, at +11 per cent although this is down -7 per cent from 1 March.
James Crouch, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at Opinium, commented: “With just one week to go until the local elections, the Conservative Party is yet to make a significant dent in Labour’s lead according to our latest poll.
“Although Rishi Sunak has attempted to restore a basic sense of what his party stands for, the latest results show that still less a quarter of the country trusts the governing party to make big decisions.
“Until the public feels it can trust the government again, it is no wonder that the Conservatives are struggling to turn around their position in the polls.”
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