Tag Archives: tory sleaze

Just 7% Of Voters Believe That Rishi Sunak Can Tackle Tory Sleaze

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Just 7% of voters have confidence that Rishi Sunak will tackle sleaze in British politics.

The shock findings follow the sacking of Nadhim Zahawi as Tory chairman after he was found guilty of multiple breaches of the ministerial code over a probe into his tax affairs.

Sunak is also coming under mounting pressure to sack his deputy, Dominic Raab, over bullying claims made against him by dozens of civil servants.

The poll by People Polling for GB News, also shows little public appetite for Boris Johnson to return to government.

And it confirms that the Conservatives continue to trail more than 20 points behind Labour.

Those taking part in the poll were asked how confident they were that Sunak – who marks 100 days as PM today – could eradicate sleaze from British politics.

Only 1% said they were “completely confident”, with a further 6% saying they were “confident”.

By contrast, 55% said they were “not confident at all”.

Sunak’s ratings were barely any better among Conservative voters, with just 3% of them “completely confident” in his ability to tackle sleaze. Meanwhile, 82% of Labour voters said they were “not confident at all”.

At prime minister’s questions yesterday, Keir Starmer said: “The Tory Party’s addiction to sleaze and scandal has done huge damage to this country and the cost to the public keeps adding up.”

Politics expert Professor Matt Goodwin said: “Amid the fallout from Nadhim Zahawi’s resignation and ongoing stories about sleaze and bad behaviour around the Conservative Party, we find that very few voters are confident Rishi Sunak can clean up politics and remove sleaze.

“On the contrary, more than half the electorate say they are ‘not confident at all’ he will be able to take care of sleaze.”

Amid calls for Boris Johnson to replace Zahawi as Tory chairman, the poll found that 56% of voters either “strongly opposed” or “opposed” his return to cabinet, with only 21% supporting it.

Even among Tory voters, just 47% said they support him returning, with 30% opposing it.

Overall, the poll puts Labour on 46%, with the Conservatives on 22% and the Lib Dems on 9%.

Professor Goodwin said: “The Conservative Party’s share of the national vote remains as flat as a pancake, at a historic low level of support.

“There is little evidence Rishi Sunak, whose own ratings were also down last week, is turning the boat around. The party is still headed for a heavy wipeout at the general election unless things change and, before then, a bruising set of local elections in the spring.”

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Boris Johnson Firmly Put In His Place By The Commons’ Speaker: ‘Sit Down Prime Minister!’

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Boris Johnson was told off by the speaker of the House of Commons during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday during a rather embarrassing exchange.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle spoke over the prime minister when he was tried to dodge a question from Sir Keir Starmer and reminded Johnson: “I’m not going to be challenged.

“You may be the prime minister of this country – but in this house, I’m in charge!”

The leader of the opposition – Labour’s leader, Starmer – was pressing the prime minister over former Tory MP Owen Paterson, who was a paid lobbyist for health company Randox and briefly defended by the government before a dramatic U-turn.

This firm won government contracts worth almost £600 million without competition, triggering concerns about how Downing Street spent taxpayer’s money.

Starmer asked: “There’s only one way to get to the bottom of this – if he [the prime minister] votes for Labour’s motion this afternoon, that [Randox] investigation can start. Will he vote for it or will he vote for another coverup?”

Johnson replied: “I’m very happy to publish all the details of the Randox contract, which is being investigated by the National Audit Office already.

“Talking of coverups – I’m sorry Mr Speaker, but we still have not heard why the honourable gentleman will not –”

Hoyle interrupted the attempts to talk about Starmer’s own work outside of Parliament when he was a backbencher, urged the prime minister to “sit down” and told him “that’s the end of that” to the cheers of the opposition benches.

Johnson tried to quiz Sir Keir Starmer on his own second job outside parliament
Johnson tried to quiz Sir Keir Starmer on his own second job outside parliament

BBC Parliament

Hoyle had already called for order repeatedly in the Commons just 10 minutes into the weekly prime minister’s questions.

He also reminded Johnson “although I don’t want to fall out”, this time of the week is for prime minister’s questions, not questions to the opposition about their conduct.

“Whether you like it or not, those are the rules of the game that we are into, and and we play by the rules don’t we? And we respect the house so let’s respect the house,” Hoyle said pointedly.

When MPs continued to shout across the house at each other, Hoyle told them: “Look, we’ve already lost a dear friend – I want to show that this house has learnt from it.”

He was referring Paterson, who resigned in November after his breach of parliamentary lobbying rules triggered a sleaze scandal.

The government briefly tried to get Paterson off the hook for breaching lobbying rules but it has since turned into a national row about MPs’ standards and has centred on behaviour in the Tory Party.

Hoyle continued: “I don’t want each other to be shouted down. I want questions to be respected, I want the public to actually be able to hear the answers – because I’m struggling in this chair. I need no more.”

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