Theresa May Now Almost As Unpopular As Pre-Campaign Corbyn

 

YouGov’s latest favourability figures show Jeremy Corbyn with his highest score to date, while Theresa May’s ratings have crashed to where the Labour leader’s were in last November.

New YouGov research highlights just how badly the election campaign and result damaged the public’s view of both the Prime Minister and the Conservative party and how much it boosted Labour and its leader.

In April, Theresa May had a healthy net favourability rating of +10. At the end of May, following the campaign and negative reception of the Conservative manifesto, it fell to -5. Following the election result it has plummeted to -34. The Prime Minister is currently about as unpopular as Jeremy Corbyn was in November last year, when he scored -35.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Labour leader has experienced a remarkable turnaround in public perception. Having experienced increasingly worse favourability ratings since Theresa May took office last summer, Jeremy Corbyn sank to a low of -42 in late April, just after the election was called.

However, the public’s view of the Labour leader improved markedly over the campaign, reaching -14 in the last YouGov favourability survey before election day. Now, following the result, his net favourability score is +0 – meaning that as many people now have a favourable view of him as have an unfavourable view.

 

The results clearly chart how the Prime Minister alienated a big section of her voter base. While Theresa May was seen favourably by 85% of 2015 Conservative voters in late April, by mid-June this had fallen to 57%.

By contrast, over the same timeframe, the proportion of 2015 Labour voters with a positive impression of the Labour leader rose from 40% to 75% as Corbyn won them round. He also experienced a huge improvement among 2015 Lib Dem voters, rising from 15% to 69% over the course of the campaign.

It is remarkable that there has been such a sharp turnaround for the leaders of the two main political parties. When the election was called, Theresa May was secure in her position and many were speculating over the future of the Labour leader. Now, the roles are reversed, with Jeremy Corbyn having silenced his critics and won over large sections of the public while the Prime Minister faces criticism from across the board.

 

Grenfell Tower

Jeremy Corbyn is clearly a man of the people, and by people, I mean ordinary working class folk.  The recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower is a case in point. Corbin is out hugging people, crying with them and walking around the crowds, comfortable in a very stressful situation, showing the strength and dignity a leader should exude – a situation he clearly empathises with personally and everyone can see it and feel it.

 

By contrast, Theresa May was not the first on site by far and met only the top brass of the fire-brigade and even then only a few of them surrounded by police and advisors getting nowhere close to the people affected by the fire.

 

The Independent reports that: ” The Prime Minister carried out private visit to scene of tragedy but did not meet any survivors – she reportedly “refused to meet any survivors of the tragedy and blocked media access. Local residents were furious that she did not stop to listen to their concerns.” The report went on “One Grenfell Tower resident reportedly told Jeremy Corbyn, who also visited the scene, Ms May was “s**t”, adding: “Theresa May was here but she didn’t speak to any of us.”

 

Whilst the Labour leader spoke with volunteers and members of the local community during a visit to St Clements Church, which is being used as a refuge centre, May refused to engage, which left residents with nothing but anger. Social media in particular will punish May with unrelenting animosity and indignation.

 

To make matters worse – A Downing Street spokesperson refused to comment on why Ms May did not meet with residents.

 

And as the Grenfell Tower tragedy turns political, because in this particular case it will, Theresa May will continue to be advised by people who are themselves out of touch and not in control – just demonstrating further that she seems incapable, even helpless to select the right team.

 

In the meantime, the likelihood of the Tories calling for another general election in the autumn beckons more so as each day passes for a Prime Minister who seems to have one particular skill – alienating just about everyone, including her more ardent supporters.

 

 

As mentioned in a previous piece about how dreadful the Theresa May team have been in calculating the entire fiasco of the snap election which has seen the emergency services stretched to the limits with awful acts of terrorism across the nation – what the public are seeing is a country protected by the best of its citizens and led by its worst. This is a situation the electorate is getting increasingly frustrated with and it shows in the YouGov chart above.

 

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