Rishi Sunak ended 2021 as the most popular politician in the country. A YouGov poll for the final quarter of the year found that 31 per cent of all adults had a positive opinion of the Chancellor compared to 28 per cent for Nicola Sturgeon and 26 per cent for Boris Johnson. However, ending 2022 in the same situation looks rather ambitious.
As the cost of living crisis worsens, Sunak is under pressure both from the public and his own party to step in and ease the burden on households in tomorrow’s Spring Statement. A poll out today suggests he has plenty of work to do to convince voters he has the right plan. The YouGov survey finds that almost two-thirds of Britons say the government is handling the economy badly while two-thirds believe they are handling taxation badly.
‘The cost of living crisis will deal with the Rishi issue,’ says one parliamentary supporter of the Prime Minister
As for Sunak – who is still the bookies’ favourite to succeed Johnson as Tory leader – just over a quarter say he is now doing a good job as Chancellor, with a third concluding he is actually doing a bad job.
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