TMay drops to new ratings low & comes under fire for not meeting with Grenfell Tower survivors
TMay's net favourability ratings with YouGov slump to record low. Now down to a net minus 34% while Corbyn soars pic.twitter.com/9kccrrQpcC
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 15, 2017
How things look so different from just 7 days ago
What a dramatic week it has been for TMay. At this time last Thursday she appeared to be heading for a comfortable majority with her gamble on an early election looking as though it had paid off. That, as we all know was not to be.
Now in the first leader ratings carried out since GE17 she finds herself down sharply. The YouGov chart above illustrates the trend in its favourability ratings where TMay is now down to a net minus 34%. Corbyn, meanwhile is on a net zero.
On top of that she’s coming under fire for not meeting survivors of yesterday’s Grenfell Tower tragedy on a visit to the site. This contrasts sharply with the LAB leader’s visit a bit later.
This is from Will Heaven on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog
“..Why on earth didn’t May meet or speak to any survivors of the fire, show some empathy in public, and promise them face-to-face that the government would look after them and get to the bottom of what nearly killed them? It would have perfectly rebutted the claim that the rich and powerful simply don’t care about the lives of poorer people who live in social housing.
She apparently didn’t speak to a single local about what had happened. This is exactly what Tory MPs, and indeed many voters, complained about during and after the election: May comes across as too cold and detached. In statements, she has said she wants to ‘reassure’ the residents of Grenfell Tower. Why not do that in the flesh?…
…In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn visited the site later on, meeting locals and – TV footage shows – even embracing them. “
If there is an early general election, and we can’t rule that out, she needs to improve her people skills. It is events like today that can get remembered.