WHICH leader of a political party has the highest approval ratings in the UK?
We'll give you a clue — if you need one.
The party she leads doesn't even cover areas outwith Scotland.
Yes, Nicola Sturgeon is the UK's best respected party leader, according to the latest polling.
Work by Opinium for the Observer shows 40% of people in Scotland "strongly approve" of the way she's doing her job.
That compares with a rating of 11% for Tory PM Boris Johnson, 4% for Labour head Keir Starmer and 3% for Ed Davey of the LibDems.
READ MORE: Section 30 court case will be inconclusive, public law expert says
The lower scores for the latter two leaders aren't because people disapprove of their work, it's because they don't have an opinion. Which might be worse than disapproval for men trying to build their parties back up from election routs here.
As many as 39% of Scots don't know about Starmer, while a massive 60% say the same about Davey.
Sturgeon also leads the pack for voters in the UK as a whole — with 42% approval to Johnson's 34%.
Even in England, 41% of people approve of the way she's doing her job, compared with 38% for Starmer, 34% for Johnson and 14% for Davey.
And when the disapproval ratings are brought in, that leaves Sturgeon as the only one of the four in positive numbers in Scotland, with Johnson plummeting to -25% while the SNP head is at +28%.
In fact, Johnson is on negative numbers everywhere, while Sturgeon is on +13% for the UK as a whole and +12% for England.
SNP MSP George Adam commented: "This confirms what Scotland already knows to our benefit — Nicola Sturgeon is far and away the most capable and trusted political leader in the UK.
READ MORE: More than half of Scots back using Holyrood election as indyref2
"Now it appears the people of England agree, too. The decisive and reassuring leadership of Scotland’s First Minister during this crisis, coupled with her calm and clear communication, puts her in a different class from the bumbling incoherence of Boris Johnson.
"Many people in England must wish they could swap the liability that is Johnson with a leader of Nicola Sturgeon’s stature and ability and who has the confidence and authority to treat people like grown ups.
“On a daily basis the First Minister has demonstrated to everyone in Britain that Scotland has an exemplary politician ready to lead us into an independent future.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel