Kemi Badenoch's First Approval Ratings As Tory Leader Are The Second-Worst Of The Last 5 Years

Kemi Badenoch is now less popular than either Rishi Sunak or Boris Johnson were when they started as Tory leaders, according to a poll.

The new Conservative leader has a net approval rating of -5%, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer.

That makes her the second least popular Tory leader of the last five years – only Liz Truss beat her to the bottom of the list.

Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister, had an approval rating of -9% when she took up the role in 2022.

But the polls also show Brits are divided over Badenoch, who won the leadership race earlier this month, with 20% of them liking her, compared to 25% who disapprove.

Around 46% of those who voted Conservative in July’s general election said they approved of the party’s new leader, compared to 46% who said they felt neutral.

However, Badenoch still has more support among the public than Sunak did towards the end of his leadership, when his ratings plummeted to -22%.

While Keir Starmer has an even lower approval rating at -24% right now, he is still seen as the better prime minister by voters – he has a 12 point lead on Badenoch in that area.

The polls come in after the new Conservative leader had a difficult time during her last two PMQs leading the opposition.

During her first head-to-head with Starmer, she was skewered repeatedly by backbenchers over her past gaffes, and accused of not listening to the government.

She then had another miserable exchange with the PM this week as she failed to land any kind of significant blow against Labour.

She instead used her time at the despatch box to claim she and her party are not against the new Budget, even though the Conservatives voted against the package the previous week.