Boris the Bombshell? Britons say Johnson's odds of reaching the Love Island final are higher than Starmer's

As the 2022 Love Island series continues, a new poll by Ipsos looks at how various politicians would fair should they find themselves in the famous villa.

Few Love Island fans would expect the politicians listed in our poll, including current and previous Prime Ministers, leaders of the opposition and the past two US Presidents, to do well in the competition. In fact, many would expect them to leave after the first vote.

Those seen as most likely to leave at this stage are Jeremy Corbyn (38%), Donald Trump (36%) and Gordon Brown (35%), while a similar proportion say the same for Boris Johnson and Theresa May (both 34%).

Those least likely to be seen to be voted out at the first opportunity include Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Tony Blair, Ed Miliband and Joe Biden, all 30%. 

Looking more closely at the current Prime Minister, he is seen as among the most likely to make it through to the final, 7% of those who have heard of Love Island say he would get to the last stage but not win while 4% say he would win the show. To compare, only 3% of those who have heard of the show believe Labour leader Keir Starmer would win the competition, while 3% expect he would make the final but not win. 

Second-hand clothing

This year, Love Island announced they would be partnering with eBay to provide their contestants with clothing for the series and while many celebrate the move to a more sustainable series, some are curious about whether all of the clothing used will be second-hand. 

When asked whether it was acceptable or unacceptable to buy various kinds of second-hand clothing, most people say it is acceptable to buy items such as t-shirts/tops (76%), trousers (76%) and jumpers (78%) but when it comes to swimwear, which is worn a lot of the time in the Love Island villa, people are less accepting. Half (50%) say it is not acceptable to buy second-hand swimwear. Similarly, 69% say it’s not ok to buy second-hand underwear.

Who watches Love Island?

Almost all British adults say they have at least heard of Love Island (94%), and 15% of this group say that they watch all or most episodes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this increases to 3 in 10 (28%) amongst 16-34-year olds that have heard of the show. 

Of those that watch all or most episodes, 90% enjoy it a great deal or fair amount, reflecting that the show clearly has it’s committed fans. 50% enjoy it a great deal. Meanwhile, spare a thought for the 2% of those watching all or most episodes that don’t enjoy it at all.

Kelly Beaver, Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK, said:

While few Britons think any of the past and present leading UK and US politicians would succeed in the Love Island villa, it is interesting to see that, albeit very small, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have the biggest chance of reaching the final of the television programme and even winning it. 

Technical note: 

• Ipsos UK interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,176 adults aged 16-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place online between 10th and 13th June 2022. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions.