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Theresa May 'more popular than David Beckham'

Prime Minister retains position as UK's most-liked politician

Harriet Agerholm
Saturday 11 February 2017 19:00 GMT
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The Prime Minister has performed well in polling in recent months
The Prime Minister has performed well in polling in recent months (Getty)

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Theresa May has become more popular than former professional footballer David Beckham, according to a new poll for The Independent.

A higher proportion of the British public have a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister than the celebrity, the survey by ComRes found.

Ms May has performed well in polling in recent months, with one finding her to be three times more popular than opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Of the 2,021 people asked, 41 per cent expressed approval of the leader, with 37 per cent of Mr Beckham.

Ms May also retains her position as the UK's most popular politician, with a net popularity rating of nine, the poll found.

Yet a higher proportion of people (32 per cent) said they felt badly towards the Prime Minister than the football star (23 per cent), who despite recent negative press coverage still has more people who like him than do not.

An email scandal – which alleged the philanthropist had complained about not being given a knighthood – had threatened to damage Mr Beckham's public image.

A spokesman for the former Manchester United player said: "This story is based on outdated material taken out of context from hacked and doctored private emails from a third party server and gives a deliberately inaccurate picture."

A survey on Monday found there was growing public support for the Government's Brexit strategy, offering a boost to the Prime Minister as she laid out her objectives for upcoming divorce negotiations with the EU,

Ms May is on course to trigger Article 50 by her target of early March after her Brexit bill cleared the Commons with no changes on Thursday.

ComRes interviewed 2,021 GB adults online between 8 and 10 February 2017. Data was weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults. Data was also weighted by past vote recall. Voting intention figures are calculated using the ComRes Voter Turnout Model. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

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