LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in the process of losing his own seat and neither of the two main political parties is likely to win an absolute majority in the next general election, not expected until 2024, according to a new poll.
This is the first detailed survey of public perception of how Johnson handled the recently concluded Brexit negotiations and the COVID-19 pandemic, after he reversed plans to allow families to meet over Christmas in parts of southern England. to combat the spread of the virus.
More than 22,000 people were interviewed in a group-by-group survey over a four-week period in December, which was conducted by the research data company Focaldata and published by the Sunday Times.
The so-called multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) survey found that conservatives in the government would lose 81 seats, eliminating the majority of 80 seats. That would leave the conservatives with 284 seats, while the opposition Labor Party would win 282 seats, the survey showed.
The Scottish National Party, which wants to separate itself from the rest of the United Kingdom, is expected to win 57 of the 59 seats in Scotland, meaning that the party can potentially play a role of making kings in forming the next government.
The prime minister risks losing his own headquarters in Uxbridge, west of London, the survey revealed.
Johnson won a resounding electoral victory last year, which allowed him to pull Britain out of the European Union’s orbit on New Year’s Eve, after nearly half a century of close ties.
But Johnson’s position as Prime Minister may be increasingly defined by the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 74,000 people and crushed the economy.