The Labour Party is leading the Conservatives by just one point, a new poll has shown, after weeks of rows over freebies.
The latest More in Common voting intention poll has 29% of people saying they would vote for Labour and 28% for the Conservatives.
When the election was held in July, the gap between the two parties was 11%. It has steadily reduced over the three months Labour has been in government.
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The gap reduced to 4% in September – and now the Tories and Labour are just one percentage point apart.
Labour’s plunge in popularity is led mainly by those aged 65 and over, suggesting that it is in reaction to the winter fuel payment cut for 10 million pensioners.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s approval rating, which was at a high of +11 after winning the election, has steadily plummeted to -33, according to the More in Common poll from 5 – 7 October.
It is now below Rishi Sunak’s for the first time since January, who is on -32.
A YouGov poll released on Monday found six in 10 people (59%) now describe the Labour government as “sleazy”.
Sir Keir’s ratings and that of his government reflect a series of unpopular policy decisions and, in recent weeks, a row over freebies taken by Sir Keir and his top team.
It has culminated in Sir Keir repaying £6,000 for tickets and clothes for his wife, and the resignation of his chief of staff, former civil servant Sue Gray.
She stepped down on Sunday after weeks of briefings against her, with her perceived power and abilities attacked by other Number 10 staff and civil servants who accused her of not having a handle on the damaging freebies row.
Her replacement, Morgan McSweeney, the party’s former campaign director who masterminded July’s election landslide, will attend his first cabinet meeting on Tuesday as chief of staff.
He will try to quell discontent within Sir Keir’s inner circle despite allies of Ms Gray being unhappy she has gone.
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An ally of Ms Gray told The Times she had been the victim of an “out-of-control group” of senior male advisers who felt threatened by her.
“Either Starmer wasn’t across what was going on or he was and he let them do it. Frankly neither is a good look,” the anonymous source said.
“You simply can’t have a lot of out-of-control special advisers ousting a chief of staff.”
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The former prime minister Boris Johnson used the recent rows to claim that the Conservative Party will “unquestionably” win the next general election if Sir Keir continues to govern as he is.
He told LBC that voters thought it would be a “kind of Blairite government” but “he [Starmer] is governing from the left”, using the example of handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay increases for public sector workers.
Asked if that meant the Conservatives could win the next election, Mr Johnson said: “I think they will. At this rate, they unquestionably will.”
