The Boris effect? Tories have clawed back support from The Brexit Party since the leadership race kicked off, new poll reveals
- Tories were at 17 per cent in polls when Theresa May resigned as Tory leader
- Conservative Party has now risen to 25 per cent to top latest survey
- But 58 per cent of voters say they do not trust Boris Johnson as next PM
- Just 21 per cent of voters say they do trust the former foreign secretary
- Tory voters almost evenly split on whether they think Mr Johnson can be trusted
- Separate poll shows Tories have started to regain some of their popularity
The Tories have clawed back support from the Brexit Party since the race for Number 10 got underway, polling data has revealed, but almost two thirds of voters do not trust Boris Johnson.
The Conservative Party sunk to just 17 per cent in the polls immediately after Theresa May quit as leader on June 7 while Nigel Farage’s party was riding high on 26 per cent.
But the Tories have steadily regained some of their popularity since then, with the latest poll putting the party top on 25 per cent with Mr Farage’s new political vehicle having dropped to 19 per cent.
The data suggests that the Conservatives have been reinvigorated by the contest to replace Mrs May as Mr Johnson and rival Jeremy Hunt have battled it out for the top job.
However, a separate poll suggests Mr Johnson, the overwhelming favourite to be installed as the new PM next Wednesday, will have a lot of work to do to win over the country if and when he takes office.
A YouGov survey found that 58 per cent of voters said Mr Johnson cannot be trusted while just 21 per cent said he can be. Some 21 per cent said they did not know either way.
Meanwhile, supporters of the Conservative Party are split right down the middle on how they view the former mayor of London.
Some 40 per cent of Tory backers have confidence in him while 37 per cent do not.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the numbers get much more stark among voters who backed other parties at the 2017 general election.
Eight in 10 Labour supporters said Mr Johnson cannot be trusted and 77 per cent of Lib Dem supporters said the same thing.
The survey also shows the scale of opposition to Mr Johnson among people who voted for Britain to remain in the European Union at the 2016 referendum.
Some 82 per cent of Remainers said the Tory favourite cannot be trusted while just seven per cent said he can be.
Mr Johnson, one of the architects of the Leave vote, does enjoy more support among Brexit voters but even they are split broadly down the middle.
Some 37 per cent said he cannot be trusted and 38 per cent said he can be.
The poll of 1,675 people was conducted on behalf of the pro-EU and second referendum-supporting Best for Britain campaign group.
David Lammy, the Labour MP and a prominent supporter of the group, said: ‘Boris Johnson is a shoe-in to become prime minister this week, but nobody trusts him – not even Conservative voters.
‘And why should they? Just last week he threw our ambassador to the US under a bus in a desperate attempt to cosy up to Donald Trump.
‘With reports that Boris Johnson is threatening to suspend Parliament in order to force through a disastrous No Deal Brexit, I fear public trust in politicians will sink to a new low.’
Team Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
Boris Johnson (pictured last night at the final Tory leadership hustings event) is the overwhelming favourite to be the next PM
Jeremy Hunt (pictured leaving last night’s hustings in London, is a self-described ‘underdog’ in the race for Number 10 but he believes he is still in with a shot
Theresa May’s announcement on May 24 that she would stand down has appeared to spark a mild turnaround in Conservative Party popularity
Voting in the Tory leadership contest is due to come to a close at 5pm on Monday and Mr Johnson is expected to comfortably beat his rival Jeremy Hunt.
A separate poll, also conducted by YouGov, shows that support for the Conservative Party has started to turn around since Mrs May announced her intention to resign on May 24.
The Tories have been broadly creeping upwards in the polls since then with the latest survey putting the party on 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, support for The Brexit Party which surged to victory at the European Parliament elections thanks to a wave of support from defecting Tory voters, has started to dip.
Nigel Farage’s party is now on 19 per cent, just behind the Liberal Democrats on 20 per cent and the Labour Party on 21 per cent. The Green Party is on eight per cent.
The Westminster voting intention data produced for The Times shows both the Tories and Labour face an uphill battle if they are to return to their historical dominance at the top of the pecking order.