Tories' poll woes are now worse than John Major before the Blair landslide

THE Tories hit rock bottom today with support for their party falling to a record low of just 20 per cent, according to a new poll.

- Nicholas Cecil

The Ipsos survey for the Evening Standard showed backing for the Conservatives nosediving by seven points from 27 per cent in January.

The figure is the worst for the Tories since 1978 when this regular poll tracker started and puts them a gaping 27 percentage points behind Labour.

Previous Conservative low points were 22 per cent under John Major in December 1994 and May 1995, 23 per cent in July 1997 when New Labour was settling into office under Tony Blair, and 23 per cent in December 2022 shortly after Rishi Sunak took over from Liz Truss’s brief and economically catastrophic administration.

The causes of shifts in political support are often hard to nail down. But factors in February which could have contributed to the latest drop in Tory backing include official figures showing Britain went into recession at the end of 2022, two more by-election losses for the Conservatives in Wellingborough and Kingswood, and Lee Anderson’s “Islamists” rant against Sadiq Khan.

The headline voting intention figures put Labour on 47 per cent, down two points. The Liberal Democrats are on nine per cent, up two points, and Greens eight per cent, up one point.

Reform UK doubled its support to eight per cent, which will further alarm Tory MPs, as will their own party’s slide into single figures among adults aged under 35. Mr Sunak has also seen his rating as Prime Minister reach a record low of 73 per cent dissatisfied, 19 per cent satisfied, giving a net score of -54.

The historical comparisons continue to look ominous for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives