Modest Gains for Conservative Leaders as Party Brand Still Suffers

Ipsos' latest Political Pulse has been released and, like most polling of the past six months, continues to suggest that the Conservative Party is broadly disliked - even though Rishi himself is somewhat more popular.

Some Conservative Party figures have made modest gains in favourability over the past month. Rishi sees his unfavourability down 1% as his favourability is up 2% - leading to a net gain of 3%. Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt has seen his net favourability increase by 6% and Suella Braverman by 5%.

The fact that Braverman and Hunt have seen modest gains might point to the role of the budget and small boats announcements in accounting for the modest polling gains evidenced elsewhere. Though such speculation should be muted by the modest size of any gains, mostly within Ipsos MORI's margin for error.

Despite this progress, the Conservative Party's brand continues to suffer. A majority of voters now holds an unfavourable view of the Conservatives, with net favourability on -32%, down 7%. This points to a perpetual polling problem for the Prime Minister - despite his relative popularity, his party still holds him back.

It's hard to suggest where the Conservatives could now go - if a solid month, with a number of major policy announcements, can't even help their image. Though, the fact their brand doesn't seem to have prevented minor improvements to voting intention figures suggests repairing it shouldn't necessarily be a priority.