More than 2/3 of those polled blame PM for the harassing of Starmer
The worrying finding for Number 10 is that more than half of GE2019 CON voters agree with this. Worrying because this comes at a time when Johnson is under a lot of pressure which has been exacerbated by the number of his senior staff who have quit their jobs in protest. And worrying too because ultimately his fate is in the hands of CON MPs who will look at developments and might ponder whether their chances of holding their seats would be better with a new leader.
The last thing Johnson needs at this moment is data that will reinforce doubts amongst some members of the parliamentary party about his leadership that could spark a confidence vote. Until this latest incident, it was starting to look as though the PM had started to weather out this latest political storm.
It was all so crazy in the first place. There was no need for his retort to Starmer at PMQs that mentioned Saville.
In the betting, there has been a small uptick in punters wanting to gamble on Johnson not surviving 2022. This is now rated as a 63% chance,