Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt lose support among Tory grassroots after tax-raising Autumn Statement

Rishi Sunak has seen his support among the Tory grassroots tumble in the wake of the tax-raising Autumn Statement, a new poll revealed today. 

Previously fifth from top in ConHome’s Cabinet rankings in October the Prime Minister has slumped to sixth from bottom in November’s tally of Conservative members. 

But he fares better than Jeremy Hunt. The Chancellor is the only senior Cabinet minister with a negative net ranking at -9.9.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who has been fronting most of the Government’s response to the asylum seeker Channel crossings and overcrowding at the Manston migrant processing centre, came in at the bottom of the list with a -25.4 approval rating.

By contrast his boss Suella Braverman, who has been criticised for keeping a low profile during the crisis, saw her popularity increase.

The survey, by website ConservativeHome, gives the Prime Minister a net satisfaction rating of +9.0 placing him in the bottom six of the website’s Cabinet performance league table and signalling that any honeymoon period for the new leader looks to be over.

The rating is a drop from his previous position at fifth in the table in the regular survey of Conservative members, which saw him enjoying a rating of +49.9.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, long a favourite of party members, tops the list with an approval rating of +83.2 followed by International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch at +63.4.

According to the ConservativeHome website, the average score in the league table is a 21.7, a record low.

ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman said it came after similarly low ratings for Liz Truss’s Cabinet, while Boris Johnson’s administration also received poor ratings in its final days.

‘The panel has clearly felt that the Government, in its various manifestations, has not been performing well for some time,’ Mr Goodman wrote on the website.