Facts

In his resignation speech, Boris Johnson claimed that when he was forced to step down, the Conservative Party were “only a handful of points” behind the Labour Party in the polls. 

YouGov’s voting intention poll, conducted on 6-7 July (data  all conducted before Johnson resigned), showed that Labour was leading by 11 points over the Conservatives at this time.

Verdict 

Johnson stated in his resignation speech that the Conservatives were “only a handful of points behind in the polls”. Defenders of the Prime Minister might argue that his use of the indefinite term "handful" allowed him to downplay the severity of the situation (Labour 11 points ahead) whilst not being specific enough to mislead.

We sent a letter to Johnson’s personal and office address offering him the chance to respond. The letter was received (and signed for) by both, but no reply.