It’s hard to find anyone that thinks the Conservatives have had a good General Election campaign.
It started in the rain and has not really got going following Nigel Farage’s entry into the race and Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early.
The public have noticed. 59% told Ipsos this past weekend that the Conservatives have had a bad campaign, up from 41 per cent in week one.
On the other hand, 42 per cent think Labour are having a good campaign, up from 33 per cent in week one of the campaign.
Our numbers with The Evening Standard today tell a tale of Conservative woe. 83 per cent are dissatisfied with the government and 75 per cent with Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister – both breaking unwanted records for the Conservatives as the worst for a government or Prime Minister at this stage of an election campaign.
On the issues, record lows think the Conservatives have the best policies on health and they are third on immigration / asylum – behind Labour and Reform UK.
All this means that almost 8 in 10 say it is time for change at the election and more think Labour are ready for government now that at any time under Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Reform UK are at a record high with Ipsos for voter preferences at 15 per cent. Some debate if they can go higher by polling day.
If things sound bleak for the Conservatives it is because they are.
The truth is there is little in these figures for the party to get excited about or to cling onto for comfort.
Around a third of voters acknowledge they could change their minds before polling day but there are no guarantees this helps the Conservatives.
Having started the campaign 20 points behind, the Conservatives needed everything to go right whereas it has often felt that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.
Keiran Pedley is Director of Politics at Ipsos
