Seventy-three per cent of respondents blames civil servants for the current difficulties. Only six per cent believe that they’re not responsible at all.
The caravan seems to have moved on a bit. But while the former Prime Minister is clearly a divisive figure, the average panel member also feels some sympathy for him.
Seventy-seven per cent of the panel have either “great confidence” or “some confidence” in it – though the latter constitute some three in ten of all respondents. Why the hesitation?
The Defence Secretary scores consistently above 80 points, and no other member of the Cabinet is anywhere near him. The ratings overall remain on the low side.
Last month Labour was given an eight in ten chance of leading a government after the next election. This month it is only seven in ten – and expectations of a Tory majority are slowly rising.
The Prime Minister has moved about half of last month’s don’t knows into his column, peeled off some opposition, and his approach now has majority support. But about a third of the panel remains opposed to it.
My sense is that the average respondent regrets his departure from Downing Street, and feels that the accusations against him over Covid and parties are unfair, but doesn’t want him back in Number Ten – for the moment, anyway.
More than half think Sir Keir Starmer will secure an overall majority, just one parliament after the Tories’ historic 2019 victory.
Though one in three don’t – and previous surveys suggest that the panel’s view on spending levels may be more complex than this return suggests.
Our question is a finger-to-the-wind test not only of what the panel thinks of the Prime Minister’s handling of the Protocol so far, but of his standing generally – and it’s not good news for him.
There has been a small fall in support for the Government’s approach to the strikes amongst our panel.
Lockdowns, the Paterson affair, parties and by-elections took their toll on his Cabinet League Table rating – plus a sense among the panel that his Government was too left-wing.