Britons feel more pessimistic about the future under Boris Johnson's premiership, though he is still the preferred prime minister over Jeremy Corbyn, a Sky Data poll has revealed.

Mr Johnson has campaigned on bringing a positive outlook to solve the Brexit crisis - and his party's crumbling polling numbers.

But four in 10 Britons (41%) are more pessimistic about the future of the UK now Boris Johnson is prime minister, with just 27% feeling more optimistic, and 24% saying it makes no difference either way and 8% answering "don't know".

Image: Boris Johnson is described as serious by a third of those surveyed

The public are also concerned about his seriousness as a politician - just 33% describe him as serious, while 51% say he actively is not.

Despite this, Mr Johnson holds a healthy lead as preferred prime minister over Mr Corbyn by 41% to 22% (38% answered "don't know").


'No one wins betting against UK'

The Labour leader is seen as more serious than his Conservative counterpart - 54% think Mr Corbyn is serious, 27% that he is not.

But Mr Johnson is seen as more competent - or rather, less incompetent.

Britons are marginally more likely to think the new prime minister is incompetent (44%) than competent (41%).

But this significantly outperforms the leader of the opposition, who is considered incompetent by 60%, with just 26% describing him as competent.

Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,083 UK adults online on 24 July 2019. Data are weighted to the profile of the population. Sky Data is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

For full Sky Data tables, please click here.