Support for Tories ahead of general election falls to lowest level on record, poll finds
04.03.2024 - 18:05
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A new poll has found that support for the Conservatives has dropped to its lowest level ever. The Ipsos UK poll, released on Monday, shows that only 20% of people would vote for the Tories in the next election.
This is a drop of seven points since January and the lowest score the party has received since Ipsos began regular polling in 1978.
This figure is even lower than the 23% recorded in December 2022, shortly after Rishi Sunak took over from Liz Truss as Prime Minister. The poll puts the Conservatives 27 points behind Labour, who are currently at 47%.
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The previous lowest score for the Conservatives was 22%, recorded by John Major in December 1994 and May 1995, just a few years before Tony Blair's landslide win in 1997.
The drop in Conservative support comes after a series of negative headlines for Mr Sunak at the start of 2024. These include confirmation that the UK had entered a recession at the end of last year, two large by-election defeats in Wellingborough and Kingswood, and an Islamophobia row involving now-suspended Tory MP Lee Anderson.
On Monday, former minister Paul Scully also announced that he would leave Parliament. This adds to a growing list of more than 60 Tory MPs who have said they will not fight their seats at the next election the highest total since 1997.
Mr Scully commented: "Fuelled by division, the party has lost its way and needs to get a clear focus which I hope the Budget can start to provide. It needs a vision beyond crisis management which can appeal to a wider section of the electorate including younger people."
"If we just focus on core vote, eventually that core shrinks to nothing."
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