Public thinks Government did bad job of handling Covid, poll finds

An Ipsos poll found widespread belief that Boris Johnson and his staff did not follow lockdown rules appropriately.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson after giving evidence to the Covid inquiry (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Half the public thinks the Government did a bad job of handling the Covid-19 pandemic, a new poll has found.

Just 26% of people told pollster Ipsos UK they thought the Government had handled the pandemic well, while 51% said the Government had done a bad job.

The poll, conducted in mid-November and published on Tuesday, came as the Covid inquiry continued to hear evidence on decision-making at the heart of Government, with testimony from Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and Rishi Sunak among others.

Evidence at the inquiry has painted a picture of a “toxic” Downing Street operation, with former health secretary Mr Hancock accusing Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, of creating a “culture of fear” that hindered the initial response to the pandemic.

Labour supporters were more likely to think the Government had done a bad job, with 70% of the party’s 2019 voters saying so. But 35% of those who voted Conservative in 2019 also said they thought the Government had performed badly.

The poll also found that an overwhelming majority of the public had little or no confidence that Mr Johnson and his Downing Street staff had followed Covid rules appropriately during the pandemic.

Giving evidence to the Covid inquiry on December 7, Mr Johnson said characterisations of the partygate scandal had been “absolutely absurd” and “a million miles from the reality of what actually happened in Number 10”.

But 80% of people surveyed by Ipsos said they were not confident Mr Johnson had followed the rules, while 79% said the same about his staff.

The investigation into partygate saw the police issue more than 100 fines, including one to Mr Johnson and another to Mr Sunak.

The Ipsos poll was carried out between November 10 and 13 and surveyed 1,095 British adults.