Poll: Voters preferred Keir Starmer's speech to the PM's

Voters preferred Keir Starmer’s speech to the PM’s with the Labour leader seen as ‘more in touch’ with country’s problems, poll finds

• Opinium poll suggested Keir Starmer’s speech better received than the PM’s
• Two-fifths said Boris Johnson came across as in touch with people’s concerns
• But almost two thirds said Sir Keir came across as in touch with their concerns
• Public also believe Sir Keir came across as more competent than Mr Johnson 

Voters preferred Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech to Boris Johnson’s, with the Labour leader viewed as more competent than his counterpart, a new poll has found. 

An Opinium survey showed 44 per cent of voters believe Mr Johnson came across like he is in touch with people’s concerns when he spoke in Manchester at Conservative Party conference yesterday. 

But that number was 60 per cent for Sir Keir following his speech in Brighton last week.  

Opinium said that ‘if it was a horse race we would be calling Keir Starmer’s speech in Brighton the winner’. 

Voters preferred Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech to Boris Johnson’s, with the Labour leader viewed as more competent than his counterpart, a new poll has found 

The polling company showed 1,305 people a video of the highlights of Mr Johnson’s speech and then asked a series of questions about how he came across.  

Some 46 per cent said they believed Mr Johnson seemed like he cares about ordinary people. 

But some 68 per cent said that about Sir Keir following his address last Wednesday.

Just over half of the British public – 51 per cent – said they generally agreed with what the PM said. The number for Sir Keir was 63 per cent.   

Some 62 per cent of respondents said Sir Keir came across as competent, compared to 49 per cent who felt that way about Mr Johnson.    

More than half of respondents said Sir Keir and Mr Johnson came across as strong but the former was slightly ahead, 57 per cent to 53 per cent.

Opinium calculated an overall score out of 10 for each speech and found that Sir Keir’s came out on top. 

Mr Johnson scored 4.7 out of 10 while the Labour leader scored 5.9 out of 10.

The PM’s score is lower than what he recorded following his first Tory conference speech as leader in 2019 when he got 4.4. 

Chris Curtis, senior research manager at Opinium said: ‘The Prime Minister will come away from Manchester pleased that his speech received positive reviews from voters, but if it was a horse race we would be calling Keir Starmer’s speech in Brighton the winner.

‘This is partly because Boris Johnson is a much more divisive figure than Keir Starmer, so it is harder for the Prime Minister to win plaudits from outside of the Conservative fold. 

‘However, with the vast majority of Conservatives approving of his speech, Johnson can rest assured he has pleased his base for another year.’

Source: Read Full Article