A Valentine's Day opinion poll suggests voters are still in love with Theresa May.

But Jeremy Corbyn is still dismally failing to win the hearts and minds of the British people.

The poll, the latest Political Monitor from Ipsos MORI, suggests the Prime Minister's astonishingly long honeymoon is yet to end.

And the timing of the poll will also warm the hearts of the Tory high command: it was conducted between 10 and 14 February, St Valentine's Day.

According to Ipsos MORI, more than half (53%) of the public is satisfied with the PM's performance (up eight points).


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One in three (36%) said they were dissatisfied with her (down three points) leaving her with a net satisfaction score of +17 (up 11 points).

The poll also shows little change in the Labour leader's ratings.

One in four (24%) say they are satisfied with Mr Corbyn (down two points) and 62% dissatisfied (up one point), leaving him a net satisfaction score of -38.

Voting intention figures show the Conservatives maintaining their big lead over Labour. The Conservatives currently stand at 40%, compared with Labour at 29%, the Liberal Democrats at 13% and UKIP at 9%.

Image: The poll shows little change in the Labour leader's ratings

That ought to be good news for the Conservatives and bad news for Labour ahead of next week's Copeland and Stoke on Trent Central by-elections. But beware, by-elections often buck the national voting trend.

And despite the Prime Minister's unconvincing performance during her visit to Copeland, (a photocall at a primary school showed the PM pulling a face in an unflattering grimace) she remains highly popular among her own party's supporters with nine in 10 (89%) Conservatives satisfied and just 8% dissatisfied.

And Mr Corbyn continues to struggle with convincing Labour voters that he is doing a good job, with more dissatisfied (50%) in him than those who are satisfied (41%).

Despite the PM's good poll ratings, voters remain pessimistic about the economy. Some 28% believe it will improve over the next 12 months (up one point), but 44% say it will get worse (down three points).

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Commenting on his company's latest polling, Gideon Skinner of Ipsos MORI said: "The historical contrasts look good for Theresa May, but much more alarming for Jeremy Corbyn.

"The Prime Minister is enjoying a better honeymoon at this stage then her two immediate predecessors, David Cameron and Gordon Brown. However, Corbyn's ratings as a Labour opposition leader almost 18 months in are closer to Michael Foot's."

In fact, an analysis by the Press Association last month suggested that after six months in Number 10, Mrs May had enjoyed the longest honeymoon period of any Tory PM since the 1950s.

A typical honeymoon period for prime ministers, according to pollsters, usually lasts just two or three months.

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But Mrs May's 14-point lead over Labour after six months as PM was only bettered by Tony Blair's 29-point lead over the Conservatives in 1997.

Among Tory prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher was five points behind Labour after six months, John Major six down and David Cameron one point ahead.

Labour's Harold Wilson was nine points ahead six months after both his 1964 and 1974 victories. Gordon Brown was down eight points after six months.

A month after the PA analysis, as the Ipsos MORI Valentine's Day poll suggests, Mrs May's lead over Mr Corbyn is now even higher.