Election joker Sir Ed Davey may be having the last laugh as his personal ratings have jumped, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos survey for The Evening Standard showed 30 per cent of adults in Britain say they are satisfied with the Liberal Democrat leader, up seven points from just three weeks ago, and 35 per cent dissatisfied, down six points.
So, Sir Ed who has done a series of election stunts including going down a waterslide, falling off a paddleboard and being interviewed on the tea cup ride at Thorpe Park just outside London, has a net satisfaction score of -5, compared to -18 earlier in the campaign.
While this may not seem much to shout about, it is much less negative than the scores for Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
Just 20 per cent say they are satisfied with the Prime Minister, and 75 per cent dissatisfied.
Thirty-three per cent are satisfied with the Labour leader, but 52 per cent dissatisfied.
Some Tories have criticised Sir Ed for his stunts which also included free-wheeling down a street in Wales on a bike, baking cakes and making jam.
“Well, I think Conservatives are worried by the attention we’re attracting, it’s partly because we’re having some fun,” the Liberal Democrat leader told The Standard in an interview, done on a train as he headed from Waterloo to campaign in Wimbledon, where he washed down an ambulance.
“It’s a different style of campaigning. Don’t take myself too seriously, but actually through those events, we are getting attention for our serious policies, and they’re exposing the damage the Conservatives have done.
“So when I came down that slide in Somerset, it was fun with those children. A lovely day. It was raining actually.
“But we were talking about mental health and mental health of our children and young people, because the Conservatives have failed them.
“When I fell off a paddleboard in the Lake District, I was making the argument about sewage, and the Conservatives had allowed the sewage companies to pump their filthy sewage into our rivers and lakes.”
The Tories deny the accusations being thrown at them by the Lib Dems.
Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: “Both Ed Davey and his party have seen an uptick in public sentiment since the start of the campaign, particularly appealing to graduates and those in the South East and South West.
“Nearly three in ten tell Ipsos they think the Lib Dems are having a good campaign, which has increased steadily over the last four weeks. And compared to 2019 there is less negativity towards them than there was towards Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats.
“But they still face a challenge to improve their public awareness, and Ed Davey’s ratings are still behind some of the most popular Lib Dem leaders in opposition, Nick Clegg, Charles Kennedy, and Paddy Ashdown.
“Nevertheless, the Lib Dems could still play an important role in this election, particularly in those areas of the South of England where Ipsos’ MRP suggests they pose their biggest challenge to the Conservatives.”
The poll also found that 36 per cent say they like Sir Ed, and 41 per cent do not.
For Mr Sunak and Sir Keir the respective figures are like, 29 per cent and 34 per cent, and dislike 67 per cent and 57 per cent.
The headline voting intention figures show the Lib Dems up three points to 11 per cent compared to a few weeks ago, Labour on 42 per cent, down one point but still with a 23-point lead on the Conservatives, who are down four points to a joint record low of 19 per cent.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has jumped from nine per cent to 15 per cent, and the Greens are down two points to seven per cent.
* Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,402 British adults aged 18+ by phone 21-24 June 2024, of whom 794 gave a vote intention included in the headline figures. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a range of potential sources of error. Further details at www.ipsos.com/en
