The chancellor’s approval ratings plunge, poll shows

Rachel Reeves’s spring statement is almost as unpopular as the disastrous mini-Budget that collapsed Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership, a new poll suggests.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL ANDY GREGORY

Just one in five people had a positive view of the chancellor’s latest fiscal statement in which she unveiled a fresh round of cuts to benefits – while 49 per cent of those polled by BMG Research for the i newspaper viewed it negatively. A third of Labour voters also disapproved of the chancellor’s announcements.

Those findings give Ms Reeves’s spring statement a net popularity rating of -28, making it the least popular fiscal event since Ms Truss’s mini-Budget, which was rated at -37.

Labour’s October Budget – which angered farmers and heaped further taxes on employers – had a net rating of -15.

And in a twin blow to Ms Reeves, a further damning poll by Ipsos found just one in five people now believe she is doing a good job – a score which sees her plunge towards the approval rating of Ms Truss’s chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in the wake of their 2022 mini-Budget.

Following the mini-Budget, which sent mortgage rates spiralling, Mr Kwarteng had an approval rating of -37. Ms Reeves is currently on -32, a five point drop in the past two weeks. BMG’s polling also put the chancellor on -32.