Any British government usually becomes unpopular after a year in office. The Leader of the Opposition says there are two good reasons why he’s not winning the opinion polls.
22 February 2021Why is Labour not leading the Opinion Polls? After all, the country has been plunged into crisis and has lost nearly ten percent of its Gross national Product in the year since Boris Johnson’s Conservatives retained and extended their parliamentary majority.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition and head of the Labour Party, has a startling explanation.
‘In a pandemic, in the main people support the incumbent government. And that’s not just in the UK. You can see that in Europe,’ he told a meeting inside his London constituency.
‘I remember the challenge being put to me [as I ran for the leadership of the Labour Party] was: Is the Labour Party even going to survive?
‘We’re going to have to sweat blood every day until the 2024 election to rebuild the Labour Party after our biggest defeat since 1935.’
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General election voting intention polls, February 2021
| Pollster | Con | Lab | LD | Grn | RUK | Con lead | Fieldwork |
| YouGov | 40% (-1) | 37% (+1) | 7% (+1) | 6% (-1) | 3% (nc) | 3% | 17-18/2 |
| Redfield & Wilton | 41% (-2) | 39% (+1) | 8% (+1) | 5% (+1) | 2% (nc) | 2% | 15/2 |
| Savanta ComRes | 42% (+1) | 37% (nc) | 7% (-1) | 3% (-1) | 2% (nc) | 5% | 12-14/2 |
| Opinium | 42% (+1) | 37% (-1) | 6% (-1) | 5% (+1) | 1%+ (-1) | 5% | 11-12/2 |
| Survation | 39% (-1) | 33% (-5) | 9% (+2) | 7% (+2) | -% (-) | 6% | 5-6/2 |
| Ipsos MORI | 42% (+1) | 38% (-3) | 7% (+1) | 8% (+3) | 0% (nc) | 4% | 29-4/2 |
| NCP | 43% (+4) | 37% (nc) | 5% (-2) | 5% (nc) | 3% (-1) | 6% | 25-1/2 |
| Kantar | 40% (+2) | 37% (nc) | 10% (nc) | 5% (nc) | 2% (-1) | 3% | 21-25/1 |
| Deltapoll | 41% (-2) | 39% (+1) | 7% (+3) | 3% (-2) | 2% (-1) | 2% | 21-23/1 |