Later today, Jeremy Hunt will present the Budget. It is one of the last chances the Government has to try and reverse the woeful state of the polls. To judge by our latest survey, members don’t rate his chances of doing that.
The Chancellor has been in negative territory for a long time: the last survey in which he recorded a positive score (of +0.6) was April last year. He has been joined in the last few months by Rishi Sunak, who has in recent surveys settled in below Hunt as the second least-popular member of the Cabinet, after poor Michael Tomlinson.
Our survey question published yesterday perhaps gives us an insight into why: three-quarters of our panel would prefer the Chancellor to use his limited fiscal headroom to boost defence spending, rather than cutting taxes.
Anyway, what’s new this month? Penny Mordaunt overleaps Kemi Badenoch to take the top spot, with a seven-point rise in her personal rating. The Leader of the Commons was in the spotlight this month leading the Government’s furious response to Labour and the Speaker hijacking the SNP’s opposition day debate on Gaza – another opportunity to showcase her skills as a parliamentary performer.
Badenoch and Johnny Mercer retain the other two podium slots. After that there is a sharp fall in the rankings: fourth-placed Alister Jack is just over 18 points behind.
Finally, we have what looks like a record number of ministers in negative ratings, for this Government at least: 11, versus (just?) nine during the previous nadir in June last year. Another seven have positive ratings in only single digits.
Beyond the top and bottom of the table, the reshuffling of positions in the middle tells us less about the real fortunes of individuals. But the gradual slump in the overall score of the Cabinet over the past year tells its own story. Can Hunt turn a page today?