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Despite scandals over lockdown parties, a cost-of-living crisis and losing the support of many of his parliamentary colleagues, Boris Johnson still makes a better prime minister than would the leader of the opposition, according to a poll commissioned by the Observer.
26% of those surveyed said Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, would make the best prime minister, while 28% backed Johnson, according to the poll conducted by Opinium. The survey also found Labour’s advantage over the Conservatives in a generic party match-up narrowed to 36% to 34%. That was down from a three percentage-point gap in the previous poll. No margin of error was given.
Johnson is clinging onto his premiership, having narrowly avoided being ousted by members of his own party in a confidence vote last week. The controversy over parties at the prime minister’s official residence in London during lockdown has been compounded by the cost-of-living crisis. A pair of local elections later this month threaten to bring more bad news for Johnson’s Conservatives.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson Looks to Next Fight In Endless Battle to Survive
Despite that, there is a sense that Starmer has failed to properly capitalize on the weakness of his opponent, the paper said. Some Conservative MPs were buoyed by Johnson’s performance at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, his first test since the confidence vote, with many privately gleeful at what they saw as a lackluster performance by Starmer, the Observer said.
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