Boris Johnson’s Poll Lead Over Labour Shrinks After U.K. Exams Chaos
Boris Johnson’s Poll Lead Over Labour Shrinks After U.K. Exams Chaos
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Conservative Party’s lead over the opposition Labour Party shrank to its smallest since Boris Johnson became prime minister amid the fallout over his government’s handling of high school exam grades.
A YouGov poll found 40% of people said they’d vote Tory in the event of a general election, compared with 38% who picked Labour. The 2-point margin is the smallest lead since June 2019, when Theresa May was still premier and Jeremy Corbyn led the opposition.
The poll marks a significant shift in opinion for the Tories, who enjoyed a double-digit lead at the beginning of July even after facing weeks of criticism over the coronavirus crisis. It’s also a sign of just how far the school exam furore has cut through with the general public in recent days.
Johnson was forced into a dramatic U-turn after an algorithm used to calculate students’ grades -- exams were canceled due to the pandemic -- resulted in thousands of results being downgraded. The government finally agreed to grade English children based on their teachers’ assessments instead.
The fallout has also hurt the premier’s own standing. According to YouGov, Labour leader Keir Starmer’s 35%-31% lead over Johnson exceeded the margin of error for the first time on the question of who would make the best prime minister. YouGov polled 1,652 adults between Aug. 18 and 19.
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