Pollwatch: Many in favour of PM resignation after Partygate fine

Three in five UK adults say that the Prime Minister should resign

Three in five (61%) UK adults say that the Prime Minister should resign now that he has been issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice in relation to the Partygate scandal, according to a snap poll by Savanta ComRes.

Despite the public wanting both Johnson and Sunak to resign, now they have been fined, considerably fewer believe they actually will.

Around one in three (31%) believe that the PM should not resign, including half (52%) of those that voted Conservative at the last General Election.

Crucially, though, the proportion that say he should resign now is marginally less than the 69% who said that the PM should resign after the publication of Sue Gray’s initial findings in January.

And for the first time, a majority (59%) say that Chancellor Rishi Sunak, also issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice today (12 April), should resign from his position.

The poll also finds that seven in ten (71%), including almost three in five (58%) Conservative 2019 voters, say that the Prime Minister knowingly misled Parliament over Partygate, while just one in six (18%) tend to agree with Conservative MP Michael Fabricant’s belief that the PM unknowingly misled the House of Commons.

Despite the public wanting both Johnson and Sunak to resign, now they have been fined, considerably fewer believe they actually will; just 15% say that Sunak will resign over the matter, while even fewer (10%) think that the Prime Minister will resign from his post.

And Conservative 2019 voters appear divided over the impact that the latest news will have on their attitudes to the inhabitants of No. 10 and No. 11 Downing Street. Around half (48%) of those that voted Conservative in 2019 say that the PM’s fine makes them think worse of him, although a similar proportion (46%) say it makes no difference.

The figures for the Chancellor are slightly worse, with 50% of Conservative 2019 voters saying they now think worse of him, while 44% have not changed their view.

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

“The fact here that a smaller proportion of the public think the PM should resign now than did in January, despite being issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, feels crucial, and will potentially make Conservative MPs think twice before writing any letters of no confidence. There’s an implication in these findings that the worst is over when it comes to Partygate and, although I’m not sure that’s strictly true, the impact that these fines will have is perhaps less than what we would have thought earlier in the year.”