The prime minister's approval rating has slumped to a record low as she tries to weather the storm following her ill-fated fiscal plan (Picture: File image)
The prime minister’s approval rating has slumped to a record low as she tries to weather the storm following her ill-fated fiscal plan (Picture: File image)

Liz Truss’s approval rating has crashed to the lowest level recorded by a leading pollster since it began tracking UK governments’ popularity more than a decade ago. 

Nine in 10 Britons said that No10 is handling the economy badly, with the Tories facing ‘electoral wipeout’ if a General Election was held tomorrow, according to YouGov. 

A similar number said that they disapproved of the way the government is handling inflation, which has reached a 40-year high according to official figures released today. 

Ms Truss clashed with Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions today after she sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and appointed Jeremy Hunt as his successor amid a series of U-turns on her cost-cutting fiscal plan. 

Dr Patrick English, associate director at YouGov, told Metro.co.uk: ‘As far as we can tell Liz Truss’s disapproval rating far eclipses anything we’ve seen before across Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem leaders.

‘Quite frankly this is unprecedented. That word has been used quite often but in terms of the data we have this is the lowest level of public confidence, the lowest level of public satisfaction with a major party leader, let alone prime minister, we have ever seen.’ 

? Licensed to London News Pictures. 18/10/2022. London, UK. Prime Minister Liz Truss arrives at the Houses of Parliament. Photo credit: George Cracknell Wright/LNP
Liz Truss is under pressure after her economic plan for the UK resulted in a series of U-turns (Picture: George Cracknell Wright/LNP)

Responses from the public also delivered a crushing verdict on the government’s handling of the NHS, with eight in 10 saying it was being conducted poorly.

Sixty per cent indicated they expect Labour to win the next General Election, with Sir Keir’s party holding a 30-point lead over the Tories on how best to handle the economy.

Dr English said: ‘This is really across the board, of course there are fewer percentages in terms of Conservative voters and Leavers, but we’re talking differences in the size of majorities here.

‘This is a cross-cutting, cross-public, damming assessment of the PM.’ 

The international research group began collecting data on government approval ratings 11 years ago. 

YouGov data
The government’s approval rating is at the lowest point since YouGov began keeping records (Picture: YouGov)

Ms Truss’s milestone low comes amid rumblings of plots to oust her as prime minister as the fallout from her ill-fated attempt to boost economic growth with the mini-Budget continues. 

The latest polling from YouGov follows qualitative work where the public overwhelmingly told researchers they had ‘lost faith’ with the government over the last year, tracking back to Boris Johnson. 

‘We can’t necessarily translate popularity ratings into a General Election but we can look to our latest polling figures, which suggest that Labour is ahead at around about 30 points,’ Dr English said.

‘If Labour were to win by 30 points with 50% of the vote we could very well be looking at the Conservatives with under 100 members of parliament.

‘We’ve never seen that to date. Quite frankly, we are looking at electoral wipeout.’

Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer speaking at the Labour Regional Conference in Barnsley. Picture date: Saturday October 15, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Labour. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party would sweep into power if a General Election was held immediately, polling shows (Picture: Danny Lawson/PA)

In 2019, Jeremy Corbyn’s approval rating slumped to the lowest for any opposition leader since 1977 according to data by Ipsos.

Theresa May also suffered a collapse in confidence amid her Chequers Brexit deal and the following resignations while she endured a rocky premiership in 2018, YouGov data at the time showed. 

Dr English added: ‘As far as we can see these are record lows both for government approval in the last 11 years we have tracked it and for the prime minister’s own approval. Liz Truss’s approval rating is lower than Boris Johnson’s or Jeremy Corbyn’s ever was and by comparison Keir Starmer is currently hovering around 0, so she’s 70 points worse than him.

‘Starmer is by no means a popular politician but certainly compared to Liz Truss he looks like an absolute God.’ 

Huge swings between the ratings of both major parties have been recorded by data researchers (PIcture: YouGov)
Huge swings in the ratings of both major parties have been recorded by data researchers (Picture: YouGov)

Labour MP Matt Western asked Ms Truss at her last Prime Minister’s Questions whether she will ‘give way’ to British voters at the ballot box. 

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘Latest polls show 68% of the population want a General Election, up even on last week and underlining the public anger at what is going on at the heart of government.  

‘This crisis was made in Downing Street but at the cost of the British people and businesses.’ 

Ms Truss is reportedly set to try and claw back confidence in her leadership by setting out a new direction for her government.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly told Sky News: ‘The Prime Minister has got a plan. She will be setting it out today at PMQs and the chancellor will be setting out his plan in just over a week’s time.’ 

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