? How has last week’s sacking/defection played out with the public? Badenoch’s approval rating doesn’t appear to have taken a hit, in fact at -11 she reaches the highest since she first became leader and first time she has polled higher approval than Farage since then, though both are underwater.
The public tend to think that Badenoch handled the situation well (50%) rather than badly (13%) interestingly even Reform voters were more likely to say well (45%) than badly (18%)
What about how well it reflects on the two main actors? Lots of Brits take a neutral view but they are more likely (34%) to say it reflected well than badly (11 per cent) on Badenoch. 14% say the incident reflects well on Jenrick, while 37% say it reflects poorly on him.
But Reform UK are still winning the battle for the right – asked which party best represents the right of British politics the public opt for Reform 35% compared to 29% who pick the Tories.
On attributes for 3 party leaders from a listStarmer1. Weak (36%)2. Out of touch (33%)3. Incompetent (31%)Badenoch1. Intelligent (22%)2. Out of touch (18%)3. Professional (17%)*But* don’t know on top at 29%Farage 1. Dishonest (27%)2. Patriotic (24%)3. Divisive (23%)
Why do people tend to think politicians are defecting? 56% say because of self interest 24% out of principle. Reform voters are more split 52% say principle and 40% say self interest.
What about voting for defectors? 70% of Conservative voters say that they wouldn’t vote for an MP who defected to Reform.But in a sign taking in Tories isn’t necessarily blunting their appeal: 72% of Reform voters say they’d be happy voting for someone if they were previously a Tory MP.