Public Wants to Hear Less from Former Prime Ministers - Especially Liz Truss
New polling for The Independent, conducted by Savanta, has asked about the public's views on former Prime Ministers. Unsurprisingly, considering the esteem in which the public generally holds politicians, none of them come off particularly well. The public wants to hear less from all Prime Ministers listed - with Liz Truss coming dead last.
Boris Johnson came off well relative to his predecessor. On 21%, he had the highest proportion of respondents saying they wanted to hear more from him. Though, ever the divisive figure, he also came second only to Liz in the number who wanted to see him less.
Taking a look into the net scores, there is one clear winner, as Gordon Brown ranks top. Though again, this is only relative to others, as all were firmly in the red.
Theresa May also managed fairly well, more as a result of an absence of unpopularity than out of any particular enthusiasm. David Cameron and Tony Blair came in level, on -24%, only beating Liz Truss.
Savanta shed further light on attitudes towards outgoing premiers - they asked if PM's should retain their seats in the Commons. A plurality, 43%, thought they should stop being MPs on a narrow margin of 4%. The public was less split when probed on specific cases. Two-thirds of voters think Liz Truss should stop being an MP.
