IT is well known that Nicola Sturgeon is more liked than Boris Johnson in Scotland – but now the SNP leader has overtaken the Prime Minister in the popularity stakes south of the Border as well.
New polling from YouGov found across Great Britain, the First Minister has a positive approval rating of four – up from minus 32 last November.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s rating has steeply declined from minus seven to minus 19.
The increase in Sturgeon’s popularity is reflected in every region in England bar one, while backing for Johnson has fallen, according to a report in The Times.
The most marked increase is in the north of England, where her rating has risen from minus 38 to a positive of five points.
In the same area, Johnson’s has fallen from minus eight to minus 23.
In London, Sturgeon’s approval ratings have gone from minus eight to plus 11 points, compared to minus 39 for Johnson.
She also has a positive rating of four in the Midlands and Wales, up from minus 36.
The Prime Minister’s approval rating is at minus three in the south – only slightly ahead of Sturgeon at minus four.
During the General Election campaign last November, YouGov polling found Johnson was more popular than Sturgeon across Great Britain as a whole and in most of England.
The new findings are the latest in a series of surveys to show public approval for how Sturgeon and the Scottish Government is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
In May, an Ipsos MORI poll found 82% of Scots thought the SNP leader was handling the crisis well.
In the same poll, 78% believed the Scottish Government had made the right decisions.
However, only 30% viewed Johnson in similarly positive terms.
Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said it confirmed Sturgeon’s popularity was back at the “very high level” she enjoyed when she became First Minister.
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