Rishi Sunak’s popularity at lowest point ever after net zero announcement
Rishi Sunak’s popularity has plunged to its lowest point since taking office following his watering down of key climate pledges.
The prime minister’s net favourability rating has slumped to -45, according to a YouGov survey carried out days after his speech rowing back on net zero pledges.
The poll of more than 2,000 adults between 21 and 22 September showed the majority of Britons have an unfavourable view of Mr Sunak, rising from 67% in late August to 68%.
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Just 23% said they had a positive view of the prime minister, down from 26% over the summer, when his net favourability rating was -41.
While Mr Sunak may have been hoping to receive some benefit from his net zero U-turn – which he claimed would save families money – his reputation among Tory voters remains effectively unchanged (they continue to be divided on the party leader, by 48% to 47%) as well as with Labour voters (who continue to overwhelmingly dislike him, at 90%).
However, his popularity has particularly taken a hit among Lib Dems voters, with just 12% saying they have a favourable view – a drop of more than half since late August, when the figure was 25%.
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Starmer’s favourability also drops
Mr Sunak’s unpopularity has not benefited Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer though, with 30% having a favourable view of him, a fall from 35% at the end of August.
A separate poll by IPSOS showed two-thirds of the public did not think the UK would meet its commitment to reach net zero by 2050, even before Mr Sunak made a raft of changes on how to get there.
Following the announcement, 48% said they were now even less confident the target would be met.
Those polled, however, were almost evenly split on whether they thought Mr Sunak had made the right decision on net zero with 47% saying he had and 46% saying he hadn’t.
Sunak ‘facing balancing act’
Gideon Skinner, head of UK politics at Ipsos, said this shows Mr Sunak is “facing a balancing act” to convince the public “he is still taking climate change seriously while also addressing concerns about the cost of living”.
In a speech from Downing Street on Wednesday, Mr Sunak insisted he was still committed to the legal target of reaching net zero by 2050, despite pushing back the deadline for phasing out gas boilers and petrol cars, while scrapping energy efficiency targets for landlords.
He said the policies risked adding extra costs onto individuals and his changes meant meeting net zero in a “pragmatic” way.
However, environment groups and industry leaders accused him of making a “false argument” saying green energy is cheaper for households and will boost jobs and investment.
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The government’s Climate Change Committee also said it was “wishful thinking” to say the UK is still on the path to reaching net zero by the 2050 deadline.
Tory MPs are split, with some seeing scrapping expensive green policies as a vote winner and those on the environmental wing worried about the impact on investment and the UK’s international reputation on climate policies.
Although Mr Sunak denied acting politically, the policy shift has been seen as part of a broader attempt to create dividing lines with Labour ahead of the next general election.
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Since the net zero announcement, it has been reported that Mr Sunak wants to shift towards a baccalaureate exam system for A-Level pupils and ban smoking for the next generation – though the latter is something Labour has also said it will look at.
On net zero, Labour has said it will reverse the delay to the petrol cars ban and will set out its position on gas boilers in due course.
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Harriet Harman has suggested a “mini inquiry” into issues raised by the grooming gangs scandal and called on Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch to discuss “terms of reference”.
The Labour peer told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that there should “openness” to a future probe as long it does not repeat the previous investigations.
In particular, she said people need to be “trained and confident” that they can take on matters “which are in particular communities” without being accused of being racist.
“I think that whether it’s a task force, whether it’s more action plans, whether it’s a a mini inquiry on this, this is something that we need to develop resilience in,” Ms Harman said.
The grooming gangs scandal is back in the spotlight after Elon Musk hit out at the Labour government for rejecting a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham, saying this should be done at a local level instead.
The Tories also previously said an Oldham inquiry should be done locally and in 2015 commissioned a seven-year national inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which looked at grooming gangs.
However, they didn’t implement any of its recommendations while in office – and Sir Keir has vowed to do so instead of launching a fresh investigation into the subject.
Ms Harman said she agreed with ministers that there is “no point” in a rerun of the £200m Jay Review, which came on top of a number of locally-led inquiries.
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However, she said there’s “always got to be an openness to further analysis, further consideration of what proposals would move things forward”.
She called on the Conservative Party to start “sensibly discussing with the government what should be the parameters of a future inquiry”, as they “can’t really be arguing they want an absolute repeat of the seven years and £200 million of the Jay inquiry”.
She said the Tories should set out their “terms of reference”, so “the government and everybody can discuss whether or not they’ve already got that sorted”.
Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns in England – including Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford – over a decade ago in a national scandal that was exposed in 2013.
In many cases the victims were white and the perpetrators of south Asian descent – with the local inquiry into Telford finding that exploitation was ignored because of unease about race.
The Jay review did not assess whether ethnicity was a factor in grooming gangs due to poor data, and recommended the compilation of a national core data base on child sex abuse which records the ethnicity of the victim and alleged perpetrator.
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Ms Harman’s comments come after the Labour Metro Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said he believed there was a case for a new “limited national inquiry”.
He told the BBC that a defeated Tory vote on the matter was “opportunism”, but a new probe could “compel people to give evidence who then may have charges to answer and be held to account”.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister who has born the brunt of Mr Musk’s attacks, has told Sky News “nothing is off the table” when it comes to a new inquiry – but she will “listen to victims” and not the world’s richest man.
Sir Keir has said he spoke to victims this week and they do not want another inquiry as it would delay the implementations of the Jay review – though his spokesman later indicated one could take place if those affected call for it.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch has argued that the public will start to “worry about a cover-up” if the prime minister resists calls for a national inquiry, and said no one has yet “joined up the dots” on grooming.
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