The Conservative strategy in the Lords must be negotiation and persuasion behind the scenes. It will need to present sensible, practical improvements, with cross-party support where it can.
Otherwise, most scores are much the same as last month, with many of them down even from its woeful levels.
Only 17 members of the Cabinet are above a lowly ten points. Sunak falls to his lowest negative rating yet. Badenoch continues to lead the rankings.
Cleverly drops from first in the table to near bottom, Badenoch goes top, Mordaunt is second, Hunt is still in negative ratings…as, on his return to the table, is Cameron.
The Foreign Secretary has been a visible media and online presence since Hamas attacked Israel – and, like Ben Wallace during the Ukraine war, sees his place and rating rise.
if you look at the odds for the next Conservative leader, there are no white men among the front runners. The top five comprise Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, James Cleverly, Suella Braverman and Gillian Keegan.
Badenoch is top for the second month running, but scores are paltry almost all the way round, and in no way a springboard for the Manchester conference.
At just over 700 replies, the low response rate reflects not only the summer season but diminished expectations. This is a bleak return for the Government as Parliament resumes.
My explanation? The Uxbridge & South Ruislip by-election result – and the Prime Minister’s tilt from green politics to red – or rather blue – meat.
It’s been a quieter political month with lots of publicity for the Government’s small boats plan. Ben Wallace continues his reign at the top of the ratings.
Sunak’s rating is still lamentable and Hunt remains in negative ratings, but Sturgeon’s fall and Zelensky’s visit made last month’s political background less unfavourable.
The Scottish Secretary, understated in his public utterances, “often makes the wittiest interjections in Cabinet discussions”.
So does Raab. Our top three are unchanged – and Alister Jack’s rating is up slightly, taking him to sixth place.
The Defence Secretary stays top, and he, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly remain the only three Cabinet members to score above 50 points in both November’s and this Christmas survey.
The average score is the lowest recently, though not by all that much – a natural extension of the panel’s verdict yesterday on the Government’s economic policy.
The Conservative strategy in the Lords must be negotiation and persuasion behind the scenes. It will need to present sensible, practical improvements, with cross-party support where it can.