UK – (WARSOOR) – Britain’s Conservative government was on Sunday level with the Labour party in the polls for the first time in over a year amid a series of embarrassing U-turns and economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson can expect little respite when parliament returns on Tuesday, with economic gloom and rows over school returns and efforts to get workers back to the office set to dominate the agenda.
The Tories and Labour are now both polling at 40 percent, according to an Opinium poll published in the Observer on Sunday, the first time they have been level since Johnson was elected leader last summer.
The Conservatives had a 26-point lead at the start of the coronavirus crisis, but criticism over the government’s handling of the outbreak, which has claimed over 41,000 lives in Britain, and the economic fallout from the resulting lockdown has seen their popularity plunge.
“This is the first time Labour have drawn level since July 2019 when both main parties were in freefall,” said Adam Drummond of Opinium.
“Since Boris Johnson became prime minister the Tories typically had a double digit lead, peaking in March/April this year when they were seen to be handling the pandemic and lockdown fairly well while Labour changed leader.”
The latest polling drop comes after a damaging two weeks of U-turns over school exam results.
SOURCE: AFP