Government approval ratings drop significantly over past week

Julian Dailly EVP 20/04/2020

Coronavirus daily tracker: April 20th 2020

Public sympathy for Boris Johnson appears to be waning

Government approval as a whole is currently on 34% down from 45% a week ago.

The PM’s approval ratings have dropped by 12 points over the past week (43% to 31%), likely in part due to allegations by the Sunday Times that the Prime Minister had missed important COBRA meetings leading up to the outbreak of coronavirus in the UK, and that there had been failings in terms of ordering enough protective equipment for healthcare workers.

The government has denied the claims, but nevertheless they appear to have made an impression on public perception with other individuals in the government not faring much better than the PM.

In terms of how well other government ministers are perceived to be handling the crisis: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has dropped from a 45% approval rating down to 36%, Matt Hancock is down by 13 points from 34% to 21%, and acting PM Dominic Raab has an approval rating of just 19% compared with 30% last week. Michael Gove has an approval rating of just 6% down from 19% last Sunday 12^th April.

Government approval as a whole is currently on 34% down from 45% over the same period.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance have not escaped unscathed either, with approval ratings of 50% and 40% respectively— a significant reduction from the early highs at the beginning of the lockdown.

In terms of following government advice, this appeared to have dropped towards the end of last week around the same time as an additional three week lockdown was announced. However, this figure has returned to previous levels with 84% of people saying they are sticking to the rules.

Worry levels also continue to remain steady with 52% of people saying they are currently feeling anxious about the pandemic.

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