Election polls latest: Have the Tories managed to claw back losses after slump?

Boris Johnson in 'weak position' in the polls says John Curtice

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The Conservatives have been embroiled in the ongoing sleaze row for more than two weeks, since Prime Minister Boris Johnson whipped MPs into voting for a motion which would see Mr Paterson avoid a recommended 30-day suspension. The Government was forced to U-turn its decision to delay a vote on the MP’s fate in the face of furious furore. Express.co.uk analyses the latest polls to reveal if the PM is still fighting against losses, or has he managed to right the ship.

The Conservatives received a boost in the latest polls after the sleaze scandal saw support for the party slump, in the Westminster voting intention poll from YouGov/The Times.

The latest poll, conducted from November 17 to 18, from YouGov found support for the Tories was at 36 percent, up one percentage point from the previous poll conducted from November 10 to 11.

Labour was in second place at 34 percent, having lost one percentage point from the previous poll.

The Green Party retained the same level of support at 10 percent, while the Liberal Democrats lost one percentage point to attain seven percent.

The Reform Party had five percent support which is up by one percentage point from the previous poll.

When asked which party the 1,800 adults would back if a general election were held tomorrow, 24 percent said the Tories – up two percentage points from the previous poll.

Labour would be supported by 23 percent of voters, while 17 percent said they did not know.

The Labour leader maintains the PM has damaged the state of Parliament over his actions.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Prime Minister has dragged Parliament into the gutter.”

Sir Keir added: “You can see the anger on his own side, he forced his MPs to do something they knew was wrong, he then got a backlash because he shouldn’t have done it.

“I think we need to change the rules as we go forward and be absolutely clear that the default position going forward is no second jobs for MPs with those limited exceptions where there’s a public service element.”

Mr Johnson tightened rules on second jobs earlier this week.

MPs voted through the PM’s proposals on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister is not only facing backlash regarding the ongoing MP standards row.

He was this week accused of a “betrayal” after it was announced on Thursday that the eastern leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line was being scrapped.

The move would see the Northern Powerhouse Rail link from Manchester to Leeds downgraded.

Mr Johnson was warned his plans risked consigning northerners to “second class” status because of the Government’s “betrayal” over rail upgrades.

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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps denied the Government has reneged on its promises for upgrade links for the North and the Midlands with its scaled-back plans.

Mr Shapps told Sky News: “They are absolutely being fulfilled. We are producing that around the 30-minute journey from Manchester to Leeds.

“When it comes to HS2, we are going to deliver HS2 trains (we are looking at) the best way to do that into Leeds.

“The plan for HS2 was conceived 15 years ago. What we want to do is make sure it actually integrates with these plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail which we are building.

“The only disconnect is some of the complaints from, I have to say, largely Labour leaders who are completely misleading people.

“This will have been the only time in history when massively improving everybody’s rail services would have been counted as a betrayal.”

Earlier this week, Labour was leading in most polls – be it as little as one point ahead – right up to a six-point lead.

However, the Tories have clawed back some of its losses in recent days.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice said Mr Johnson and the Tory Party’s numbers have plummeted to their lowest levels since the PM was elected.

He told LBC: “It’s not that trust in the Conservatives has crumbled; it’s taken a hit.”

Support appears to have suffered a hit, having already dropped over the summer, as a result of lorry driver shortages, petrol shortages, food shortages, and other issues.

Sir John added: “A number of reports have put pressure on the government.

“It’s been enough to mean that most surveys now show the Conservative vote share at about 37 percent, the lowest it’s been since Boris Johnson won the election in 2019.

“It’s just by a hair that the Conservatives are still ahead of Labour in the polls.

“This signifies the party’s relative standing is lower than it has been in the previous 12 months.”

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