Majority of voters in Wales want Boris Johnson to quit

People in Wales want Boris Johnson to quit as Prime Minister following investigations into lockdown breaches, according to a new poll.

The new YouGov poll, commissioned by ITV Wales and Cardiff University, has found that 58% want him to resign 28% want him to remain in office and the rest are uncertain.

The war in Ukraine does not appear to have bolstered support for Mr Johnson, however the vote divides strongly on party lines, with 88% of those wanting him to quit Labour supporters compared to just 10% who vote Conservative.

The study also reveals that 54% of those polled say they trust he Welsh Government compared to just 27% for the UK Government and 67% of respondents said they had little or no confidence in Mr Johnson’s administration.

The gap in the trust between the two administrations has been increasing for some time with the Welsh Government seen as more trustworthy overall.

The poll also suggests that overall voting intentions in Wales have not changed significantly since the December poll, with Labour holding a 15-point lead over the Conservatives.

If this were to be replicated at a Westminster election, the majority of the seats won by the Conservatives in the 2019 general election would be wiped out, although the next election is due to be fought on new boundaries, with Welsh seats reduced from 40 to 32.

When asked whether Boris Johnson should resign as prime minister, or remain in his role:

58% said he should resign

28% said he should remain

14% said they didn’t know

Should resign, by party support:

• Conservatives 10%
• Labour 88%
• Plaid Cymru 79%

Westminster voting intentions:

• Labour 41% (No change)
• Conservatives 26% (No change)
• Plaid Cymru 13% (No change)
• Other 13%

‘Incredibly concerning’

Commenting on the poll to ITV news, Dr Jac Larner, from Cardiff University’s Welsh Governance Centre, said: “Despite little to no substantive change in vote intention figures, there are two points of note from this latest poll.

“First, the ‘Boris bounce’ that the Conservatives have enjoyed in Wales under Johnson has ended. Conservative polling numbers for the last two polls now closely resemble their position at the tail end of Theresa May’s premiership.

“The Downing Street party scandals, combined with the perception that the Conservatives have not done a good job at responding to the pandemic, has lost the party the support it had gained in Wales since the 2016 EU Referendum.

On the subject of a majority wanting Boris Johnson to quit, Dr Larner added: “These will be incredibly concerning numbers for the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party in Wales.

“With most of the Welsh public now in favour of Johnson resigning, combined with their poor polling performance, the Conservatives face a tough choice over whether Johnson should remain in office.”