Boris and Starmer are tied in opinion polls – as 38% think Starmer looks like a PM-in-waiting

Sir Keir Starmer has drawn level with under-fire Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the eve of Labour’s first ‘virtual’ party conference as nearly 40 per cent of Britons say the opposition leader looks like the Conservative’s successor as premier. 

A YouGov poll has revealed that Labour, which experienced record-low popularity under Jeremy Corbyn’s disorderly reign, is now tied with the Tory Party. 

The survey for The Times is a major boost for Sir Keir, whose strategy of attacking the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis appears to be paying off. 

Around 35 per cent of people polled believe that the Labour leader would make the better Prime Minister, compared to 30 per cent in favour of Mr Johnson. 

The YouGov survey also shows that around 38 per cent think Sir Keir looks like a Prime Minister-in-waiting, while 31 per cent do not. 

The results coincide with a YouGov poll earlier in the week finding that public approval of the Government’s response to the coronavirus crisis has fallen to its lowest level yet, with a net score of -33.

Sir Keir Starmer has drawn level with under-fire Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the eve of Labour’s first ‘virtual’ party conference as nearly 40 per cent of Britons say the opposition leader looks like the Conservative’s successor as premier 

A YouGov poll has revealed that Labour, which experienced record-low popularity under Jeremy Corbyn’s disorderly reign, is now tied with the Tory Party 

Sir Keir Starmer has drawn level with under-fire Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the eve of Labour’s first ‘virtual’ party conference as nearly 40 per cent of Britons say the opposition leader looks like the Conservative’s successor as premier

The results coincide with a YouGov poll earlier in the week finding that public approval of the Government’s response to coronavirus has fallen to its lowest level yet, with a net score of -33

Sir Keir has deliberately distanced himself from former Labour leader Mr Corbyn, whose term as party chief was plagued by criticisms around Brexit, his handling of anti-Semitism within the party, and his alleged support of terrorists. 

The Oxford-educated opposition leader, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, has been very careful not to get drawn into Mr Johnson’s threats to renege on his Brexit divorce deal and flout international law this week.

However, nearly half (49 per cent) of those polled by YouGov said they still did not trust Labour to handle the UK’s departure from the EU. Just 29 per cent said they were in favour of Labour taking over on the issue.

Over a third (35 per cent) surveyed thought that Sir Keir, who took over as Labour leader in April, had improved the party while four per cent thought that he had not. 

On domestic issues the economy proved to be a problem for Labour. Only 13 per cent felt that it was the issue that the part cared most about – compared to 40 per cent of the public who feel it is the top priority.

Last week YouGov found that just three in 10 (30 per cent) of Britons polled think the Government has handled the coronavirus crisis well – while two-thirds (63 per cent) say Boris Johnson’s administration has handled it badly.   

This gives a net score of -33, a significant drop from the previous score of -18.

Currently 70 per cent of Britons believe the national coronavirus situation to be getting worse, up from 54 per cent last week. As recently as late August this had been a minority view, with only 31 per cent saying so on the 25th.