Theresa May is the most popular leader on record – the Left needs to figure out why

May has an unprecedented leadership score of 61

Theresa May is more popular than either Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair were during their best years, according to a new Ipsos MORI poll.

Since the 1970s, the pollster has been asking which of the party leaders would make ‘the most capable prime minister’. In their most recent survey, 61 per cent opted for May, compared to just 23 per cent for Jeremy Corbyn.

Thatcher’s high water mark was 48 per cent in 1983, while Blair hit 52 per cent in 2001.

The overall voter intention figures are no less disturbing, with the Conservatives hoovering up support both from UKIP and from Labour, bringing them up six points to 48 per cent.

May’s personal approval will have a huge impact on June’s election, but many on the Left remain mystified by her popularity. Across the progressive space, party strategists must devote significant attention to understanding the effectiveness of Brand May, the better to dismantle it ahead of 8 June.

See: For the first time since the 1850s, the Tories may take the majority of seats in Wales

15 Responses to “Theresa May is the most popular leader on record – the Left needs to figure out why”

  1. Michael WALKER

    Well it’s simple.
    She has not got a record of opposing her own Party when in power, nor supporting terrorists, nor protesting, nor having a beard, nor of supporting 40 years out of date failed ideas..

    As any fool can tell.

  2. Boffy

    From the various vox pops and surveys that have been done, and from what May and her Cabinet themselves see as her strong point, it is that she is a strong leader who brooks no opposition. Indeed, she cannot tolerate opposition, as was seen with her attempts to prevent a democratic debate and vote in Parliament over Brexit, and her hostility to the courts stymying of her attempt to do that. It is seen in the way that she never answers questions in Parliament, because she cannot think on her feet, which is why she cannot stand opposition that might expose her actual weakness. It is seen in her adulation of people like Trump, who similarly cannot stand opposition, that exposes his ignorance, and the way that after Trump she went off to visit other dictators in the Gulf, and in Turkey. It is seen by her International Trade secretary who went off the the Phillipines to see the dictator Duerte there, who uses assassination squads, and was told by Liam Fox that Britain wanted a relationship with them that reflected their shared values!!!
    If all the vox pops and surveys are to be believed what Tory voters see as positive in May is that she models herself on these dictators what they want is country led by an Adolf Hitler or a Mussolini, in a skirt. They might well get one, and we will see what they make of it then.

  3. p.j.

    So that’s it then is it. Popularity is the ultimate aim. Everyone’s moral and ethical framework a moveable feast, in the search for approval from the witless and the self centered.

  4. Sonia Jacks

    Both of the points made are true but in the end one has to say large numbers of people don’t trust Jeremy, don’t believe him and don’t think he looks like a Prime Minister and they are the ones that have always voted Labour. We have a mountain to climb if May is not to get a landslide

  5. Jason Mundstuk

    Well, look who she’s compared to. Only the base-base wants Corbyn as PM. That’s obvious, isn’t it? He may be ideologically pure/appealing to that base, but only them. The left does not have a leader or program that appeals to the electorate.

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