Public more confident in Rishi Sunak than his predecessors but see Labour as more likely to deliver on key priorities

Public Sector

New Ipsos poll on how Rishi Sunak is seen by the public after his first week as prime minister.

14 November 2022

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Keiran Pedley Public Affairs
Gideon Skinner Public Affairs
Cameron Garrett Public Affairs
Ben Roff Public Affairs

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Britons more confident Sunak can unite the Conservatives than they were about Liz Truss and Boris Johnson
Fewer Britons lack confidence in Conservatives long term economic plans under Sunak – but majority expect him to lose a next election
Labour seen as more likely to deliver on cost of living, public services and other priorities

New polling by Ipsos in the UK, taken 31 October – 3 November 2022, shows Rishi Sunak registering better scores than Liz Truss and Boris Johnson on various measures but that the Prime Minister still has a way to go to reverse the Conservatives ailing political fortunes overall.

How likely or unlikely do you think it is that Rishi Sunak will win the next general election (% Very / fairly likely) 27% How likely or unlikely do you think it is that Rishi Sunak will unite the Conservayive Party (% Very / fairly likely) 42%

When asked how likely or unlikely it is that he can unite the Conservative Party under his leadership, 42% think it is likely Sunak can and 41% think it is unlikely. These numbers are better than scores registered by Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. Some 78% felt it was unlikely Truss could unite the Conservatives behind her leadership in October and 64% said the same about Boris Johnson in June.

Meanwhile, although fewer think it unlikely Sunak wins the next election (53%) than Truss (78%) or Johnson (59%), this is still more than half and only 27% think it likely he wins the next General Election – which is no better than the 30% saying the same of Boris Johnson in June this year.

However, Rishi Sunak will be encouraged that the proportion of Britons that think it is likely that Keir Starmer will become Prime Minister has fallen from 56% when Liz Truss was Prime Minister to 46% today.

Trust in the Conservatives' long term economic plan

On the economy 34% say they are confident the Conservatives have a good long term economic plan for Britain. 55% are not confident. However, the proportion that are confident is greater than said the same under Liz Truss in October (17%) and the proportion than are not confident is much lower (was 74% under Truss in October). Similarly, 35% are confident that the Conservatives under Sunak can provide strong and stable leadership (54% not confident) whereas for Truss in October those numbers were 23% and 71% respectively).

How confident, if at all are, you that The Conservative Party has a good long-term economic plan for Britain? (% Confident) 34% How confident, if at all are, you that The Labour Party has a good long-term economic plan for Britain? (% Confident) 37%

Who would make a good Prime Minister?

Almost two in five (38%) think Sunak will do a good job as Prime Minister (+2 on October 2022). A quarter (25%) think he will do a bad job as Prime Minister (-7), while one in five (22%) think he will do neither a good job nor a bad job (-10).

These numbers are very similar to the public view on a potential Starmer premiership. More than a third (36%) think Starmer would do a good job as Prime Minister, which is down on his rating from October (-6). Just over a quarter (27%) think he will do a bad job as Prime Minister (-1). Like Sunak, one in five (22%) think he will do neither a good nor bad job as Prime Minister.

To what extent, if at all, do you think each of the following would do a good job or bad job as Prime Minister? (% Very/fairly good job) Sunak: 38% Starmer: 36%

The public were also asked to compare the two leaders on a list of personality traits. Similar to their views on would do a good job as Prime Minister, the public were largely split between the two leaders. Starmer leads on six key traits, Sunak on five, and they were tied on one. When this question was asked of Liz Truss and Keir Starmer (26th – 29th August 2022), Starmer led on all twelve of the same attributes.

On this occasion, Starmer leads Sunak by 10 points or more on being in touch with ordinary people (+30), sharing my values and being an experienced leader (both +11). Sunak leads Starmer by 10 points or more on being good in a crisis (+14).

Yet despite Starmer and Sunak registering similar scores on who would make a good PM and each having their own relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of personal character traits, a potential Labour government under Starmer is viewed more positively than a Conservative government under Sunak on several measures.

For example, a Starmer government is seen as significantly more likely to improve public services (+25 points), reduce waiting times in the NHS (+16 pts), offer Britain a fresh start (+15pts) and reduce the cost of living (+14pts). A Sunak government is seen as more likely to grow the economy (+8pts).

Meanwhile, 48% now think there should be a General Election. Down from 62% in mid October when Liz Truss was Prime Minister.
Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said of the findings:

There are some signs of encouragement for Rishi Sunak in these numbers. The public are less hostile to the Conservatives economic plans than they were under Liz Truss and there is little to choose between Sunak and Starmer on who the public think would make a good Prime Minister. However, there are still signs that the Conservative brand is in trouble, evidenced by the fact a hypothetical Labour government under Starmer is seen as much more likely to deliver on public priorities around the cost of living and improving public services.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,037 Britons aged 18-75 Interviews were conducted online from 31 October – 3 November 2022. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.