Last month, before David Cameron’s EU deal, we warned that the next Cabinet league table could look very different. This month, it turns out that we were right. The latest, quite remarkable league table is pasted above. Here are some observations:
- Cameron in negative territory… Until this month, only one person had achieved a negative satisfaction rating in this Parliament: Andrew Feldman, after the Mark Clarke allegations came to light. But now Feldman has some company. The Prime Minister himself, David Cameron, is among the ten Conservatives with a negative rating. He’s dropped almost 54 points since last month. His EU deal – or, perhaps more apposite, the way he has handled his party afterwards – hasn’t gone down well with our respondents.
- …along with George & friends. Cameron’s would be the largest one-month fall we’ve ever recorded were it not for some of the other ministers who have joined him in the negative zone. Sajid Javid has lost an amazing 73 points since last month, probably because he was regarded as a minister who would come out for Out – but hasn’t. Around him are other friends of George Osborne, such as Amber Rudd, Robert Halfon, Liz Truss and Matthew Hancock. And, of course, the man himself: after the setbacks of recent months, Osborne is now on -6.7 points, which is even lower than his rating after the dreadful Budget of 2012.
- The Outers prosper… The top six places in the table proper are occupied by the six ministers who are backing Leave: Gove goes ahead of IDS into first, and they’re followed by Priti Patel, Theresa Villiers, John Whittingdale and Chris Grayling. Advocating our departure from the European Union has obviously done nothing to harm these ministers’ standings – or has it? Despite their positions, Gove and IDS actually have markedly lower satisfaction ratings than they did last month, which suggests they have lost some support thanks to their stand on Europe. In fact, 74.5 is, I think, the lowest top score in any of our league tables ever.
…apart from Boris. And what of that other outspoken Outer, Boris Johnson? His rating has actually declined since last month, from 68.8 to 55.7. This not only aligns with YouGov’s findings, it is also the lowest Boris has scored in any of our league tables. I’ve made a graph to demonstrate this, to the right, which you can click for a larger version. Party members have perhaps noticed the Mayor of London’s prevarication more than they noticed his final decision.
- The Davidson exception. Some people have managed to escape the Bonfire of the In Crowd – including Ruth Davidson. In her first appearance in our league table, the Scottish Tory leader has the second highest rating of anyone, at 68.3. Her ally Stephen Crabb also manages to finish in seventh place, albeit with a rating of 19.6. And an honourable mention must go to Michael Fallon, who hasn’t declined as much as some of his pro-Remain colleagues have.