General election is an ‘unpopularity contest’ between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, pollster Sir John Curtice claims The polling guru John Curtice pointed out that both main party leaders have negative ratings from the public

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are locked in an “unpopularity contest” with both candidates for No10 disliked by most voters, according to Britain’s most renowned pollster.

Sir John Curtice, who runs the exit polls on election nights, pointed out that both Labour and the Conservatives are led by unpopular politicians and suggested the winner will be whichever party can overcome this leadership handicap.

He predicted the only two possible outcomes are a Tory majority or a Labour minority government propped up in an informal agreement by the Liberal Democrats and/or SNP.

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A new poll shows both main leaders are disliked by more voters than like them. Mr Johnson’s poll ratings – the percentage of people who approve of him minus those who disapprove – stand at -8, according to Ipsos MORI, while Mr Corbyn is at -39. Nigel Farage and Jo Swinson also have negative ratings.

‘Most unpopular new PM’

Sir John, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said: “As far as the two main parties are concerned this is an unpopularity contest… None of the party leaders are very popular.”

He compared the race to 2017, when Theresa May started off with positive ratings which fell over the course of the campaign. The pollster said: “Boris doesn’t start off with that. Boris starts off with as many disapproving as approving. I think he is the most unpopular new prime minister in polling history. That’s essentially, of course, basically because Boris is loved by Brexiteers and he is hated by Remainers, so he is Marmite.”

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And he said of Mr Corbyn: “By the end of the [2017] election, he almost has as many people thinking he was doing a good job as doing a bad job, and people approving or disapproving. But it’s all gone. He’s starting back from where he was, and that doesn’t make it any easier for the Labour Party to win votes.”

Most new prime ministers – including Mrs May – enter office with high approval ratings and see them fall over time.

Weak ties

Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn were dealt another blow by a new poll which found a large majority of voters feel only a week connection with their preferred party. Just 20 per cent of Conservative supporters and 24 per cent of Labour backers told YouGov they identify “very strongly” with the party they will vote for.

And a third of the public said they do not identify at all with any political party. The figures suggest the election could be highly volatile with large numbers of voters changing their mind before polling day.

Sir John said that although Mr Corbyn is highly unlikely to win a majority, he could well end up as head of a minority government supported by the other centre-left pro-EU parties.

And he predicted Labour may see a rise in the polls in coming weeks as voters begin to think about their local candidates, including more than 200 MPs seeking re-election, rather than about the party leadership.