Boris Johnson Bday Party Snap Poll – 25th Jan 2022

Snap polling on Birthday partygate, including some indication that the public isn’t necessarily going to get any angrier – unless the allegations get sizably worse.

Half do not trust the Met investigation into No.10 parties – Savanta ComRes Snap Poll

Half (51%) of the British public say that they do not trust the Metropolitan Police investigation to uncover whether Coronavirus rules and regulations were broken
Majority (59%) say penalties the Met will be able to dish out to guilty parties will be too lenient
Two thirds (67%) say the PM should resign – but no higher than earlier this month
Quarter (27%) say Birthday Partygate is the worst alleged lockdown breach by No.10, behind staff leaving drinks the night before Prine Philip’s funeral (37%).

Half (51%) of the British public say that they do not trust the Metropolitan Police investigation to uncover whether Coronavirus rules and regulations were broken at a series of lockdown get-togethers in No.10 Downing Street according to a snap poll by Savanta ComRes.

And although two in five (42%) say that they do trust the Met’s investigation, only 8% say that they trust it “a great deal”.

The investigation by the Metropolitan Police is likely to only have the power to issue fines to those it finds have breached Coronavirus regulations, and a majority (59%) of the public say that this is too lenient, including 42% of 2019 Conservative voters. A third (32%) of the public say that fixed penalty notices are about a fair punishment.

The poll comes as two thirds (67%) of the public say that the Prime Minister should resign, although this figure is practically unchanged from earlier this month when the Prime Minister admitted to briefly attending a BYOB drinks event in the Downing Street garden while Britain was in its first full lockdown.

When asked which of the government’s various Partygate scandals is the worst, only 13% say that they consider that event, one of the earliest alleged breaches of the rules, the worst, while a similar proportion (15%) say that the No.10 Christmas Party, the scandal that kicked off the whole Partygate affair, is the worst.

And while recency bias may be a factor, a quarter (27%) say that the PM’s birthday gathering in 2020 is the worst example of alleged breaches of the rules, while approaching two in five (37%) say it was the No.10 staff leaving party the evening before Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral.

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes says,

“The latest allegations against the Prime Minister and No.10 Downing Street, however bad, do not appear to have moved the needle that much, with very similar figures to before saying the PM should resign and that Britain wouldn’t forgive him for the scandal even if he were to resign. Perhaps, then, this is an indication that things are as bad as they’re going to get for the government, unless, of course, there are more serious allegations to come.

Really, it’s going to be the results of the inquiries and investigations that are the next battle for the Prime Minister and, if Sue Gray’s inquiry report does end up being delayed as a result of the Met investigation, the Prime Minister may be feel marginally safer in the knowledge that things can’t get much worse in the court of public opinion in the very near-future. This poll seems to imply, at the very least, that it’ll take a lot worse than him enjoying some birthday cake with staff to further-outrage an already angry electorate.”

Date Published: 25/01/2022

Categories: Politics | Public and communities

Client: Savanta ComRes

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 1,019 UK adults aged 18+ online in 25 January 2022. Data were weighted to be representative of all UK adults by age, sex, region and SEG. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.