Is Boris Johnson Losing Conservative Voters?

The Johnson government has had an uncanny ability to weather political storms since taking power back in 2019.

The number of scandals and controversies the prime minister and his party have experienced which would have brought most other leaders tumbling down is quite incredible – especially when considering that up until very recently, the tories have been comfortably and consistently ahead in the polls.

However, as Statista’s Martin Armstrong points out, signs of this luck beginning to run out have started to show. The latest revelations regarding non-covid regulation conforming gatherings and parties have made their presence felt in the polls, with Labour pulling ahead in a series of voting intention surveys over the last few days. While these snapshots of public sentiment will probably not concern the prime minister too much at the moment, another metric may be of more concern.

As a YouGov time series shows, government approval among those who voted Conservative in 2019 has dropped dramatically in December.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Now down at 40 percent, the lowest of Johnson’s time in office, the disapproval rate is now also higher for the first time, at 43 percent. Adding to the pressure, a senior tory, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, has warned that a leadership challenge in the new year “has got to be on the cards” if the prime minister is unable to make changes to his approach.