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Only 27% of Britons think Boris Johnson is an honest person, poll reveals

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for PMQs at the House of Commons on June 3, 2020 in London, England. The UK remains in lockdown due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic with more of the restrictions eased across England since Monday as the number of recorded daily fatalities and infection rates decline with the current UK death toll reported at 48,106 by the Office for National Statistics. (Photo by WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Just 27% of people think Boris Johnson is an honest person, a new poll has found. (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Just 27% of Britons think Boris Johnson is an honest person, according to a new poll.

The latest Ipsos MORI political pulse asked people about personality traits of Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Asked whether the Prime Minister is an honest person, 27% of people said that description did apply while 49% said it didn’t.

The poll interviewed 1,291 British adults online from May 29 to June 3.

According to the Ipsos Mori poll, less than a quarter of people see Boris Johnson as honest. (Picture: Ipsos Mori)
According to the Ipsos Mori poll, only 27% of people see Boris Johnson as honest. (Picture: Ipsos Mori)

It also revealed that Boris Johnson’s poll ratings have continued to fall amid a backlash to his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Johnson was heavily criticised after supporting his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, after it emerged he drove 260 miles in order to stay in Durham during the lockdown. Cummings also made a separate 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle, which police said “might have” breached the rules.

Johnson was also criticised – particularly by teaching unions – over his easing of the lockdown on Monday, which saw Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils return to schools. Unions had argued it was unsafe.

On Wednesday, Johnson also declared himself “very proud” of the government’s record during the COVID-19 outbreak. The UK has the second highest death toll in the world.

Meanwhile, the government has also struggled with some of its major coronavirus initiatives, including the NHS Test and Trace system which was hit by technical issues upon its launch last week. Staff – some on nearly £20 an hour – also said they had nothing to do during entire shifts.

Asked about various personality traits of the two party leaders, Johnson is more likely to be seen as having ‘a lot of personality’ compared to Starmer (64% v 30%) whereas Starmer is more likely than Johnson to be seen as someone that ‘pays attention to detail’ (41% vs 29%).

The poll also revealed that the Prime Minister is more polarising than his Labour counterpart — Britons are more likely to say Johnson is a ‘strong leader’ or ‘good in a crisis’ than Starmer but they are also more likely to say he is not.

More Britons say they ‘don’t know’ whether these attributes apply to Starmer (‘strong leader’ 46%, ‘good in a crisis’ 57%) than either they do or do not.

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Ipsos MORI Research Director Keiran Pedley said: “The data shows that Johnson is a polarising figure whilst Starmer continues to be a relative unknown – although that is changing.

“Labour will be encouraged that Starmer’s ratings continue to be net positive as he becomes better known and that Labour is no longer looked upon less favourably by the public than the Conservatives.”