That half our panel of Conservative Party activists want Boris Johnson to be a Conservative Parliamentary candidate at the next general election is a bad headline for Rishi Sunak.
But the smaller print is better news. Last time round, in our special survey the end of May, those figures were 71 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
In other words, the proportion supporting his candidacy is down from seven in ten panel members to five in ten, and that opposing it up from about one in five to two in five – a doubling in a month.
These figures are consistent with Party members recognising that the Johnson caravan is moving on – most recently, to a Daily Mail column supporting the removal to Rwanda of small boat arrivals (a policy which began on his watch).
Meanwhile, the percentage of the panel which thinks that the Privileges Committee into him was fair is up marginally. from 29 per cent to 32 per cent – as close as to make no difference.
That believing instead that it was unfair is up from 62 per cent to 63 per cent – again, there’s no real change at all here. The panel continues to take Johnson’s part against the committee, including its four Conservative members.
