Facts
On 13th June 2022 YouGov found that 56% of all adults in Britain considered the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to be ‘dislikeable’. It remained the case that a majority considered him ‘dislikeable’ on the 8th August (51%).
On 3rd July 2022 YouGov found that 71% of all adults considered Johnson to be doing “badly” as Prime Minister. On the 31st July this had decreased to 66%.
Verdict
Sir Bill Wiggin’s statement that Johnson was “immensely popular” was untrue, as polling evidence shows.
Additional Note:
We wrote to Sir Bill giving him the opportunity to respond. Here is his reply:
“Dear Mr Willcocks,
Thank you for your courtesy, I appreciate the email…
Your statistics suggest the PMs dislike-ability as 51% as opposed to Sir Keir Starmer who was on 54% disapproval and 28% approval at approximately the same time.
I agree that the yougov statistics do not give exact comparisons making it clearer that - many will never get their heads around the fact.
I can see how you may feel that I may have exaggerated by using “immensely” but I have asked for legal advice on the implication that my comments were “untrue”.
I respectfully ask you to not defame me.
Thank you again for your message
Yours sincerely Sir Bill Wiggin MP”