Labour is now level-pegging with the Conservatives, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer, which shows the Tories have lost a massive 26-point lead in the five months since March. The survey – which puts the two main parties on 40% of the vote (the Conservatives are down two points and Labour up one point on a fortnight ago) – will cause further alarm in Tory ranks as internal unrest over the performance of Boris Johnson’s government grows. At the same time it will be a boost for Labour, as MPs prepare to return to Westminster on Tuesday. It is the first time since Johnson became Tory leader that Labour has been level, and caps a remarkable surge since Keir Starmer took control of the main opposition party in April.
At the end of March, in the final days of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and when the country was rallying behind Johnson after he imposed the full lockdown on March 23, the Tories were 26 points ahead of Labour. An Opinium poll at the end of the month put them on 54% of the vote, and Labour on 28%. In the same poll at the end of March a large majority of people (65%) approved of the way the government had handled the Coronavirus crisis, while 23% disapproved. Five months on, after the UK became one of the worst performing nations and ministers executed a string of policy U-turns, the proportion approving has more than halved to 31%, and that disapproving has more than doubled to 47%. As schools prepare to reopen in England from Tuesday, a clear majority of people believe it will, however, be safe for young people to go back to the classrooms. Of those questioned, 63% think it will be safe for primary schools to reopen while 30% think it will not be. For secondary schools, 60% think it will be safe while 33% have doubts. More people (40%) blame Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, for the recent exams fiasco than lay blame at the door of the regulator Ofqual (29%) or teachers (10%). Commenting on Labour’s recovery, Adam Drummond of Opinium said: “This is the first time Labour have drawn level since July 2019 when both main parties were in freefall and losing votes to the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats. “Since Boris Johnson became prime minister the Tories typically had a double-digit lead, peaking in March/April this year when they were seen to be handling the pandemic and lockdown fairly well while Labour changed leader. In the five months since that peak, the lead has gradually declined from 26% to 0% now.”