Putin’s war in Ukraine has dramatically changed the domestic political landscape. One of its most visible effects has been to remove Partygate from the top of the news bulletins and front pages.
The last ConservativeHome survey to ask showed that panel members were already tiring of the Downing Street parties story – up to a point, anyway.
Whereas in December a majority of the panel that the row was not being overblown (by 55 per cent to 43 per cent), January saw those proportions almost exactly reversed. By 55 per cent to 42 per cent, panel members said that the controversy was being overblown.
We didn’t ask the question in our February survey. So what difference has a month of the war, and the recent news of Partygate police fines, made to the panel’s view?
The short answer is: not all that much. The proportion of those who think the story is overblown has drifted up by four points; that of those who think it isn’t down by four points. The war has not collapsed the view of a big minority of the panel that partygate is important to many voters.