Theresa May is seen as the best Prime Minister in nearly 40 years – polling even higher than Margaret Thatcher
Whopping 61% of British voters back May as most capable PM - highest rating since polling survey began in 1979
THERESA May is now seen as a better leader than even Margaret Thatcher — posting the highest rating for a PM in nearly 40 years.
A survey gave her 61 per cent backing when voters were asked who would be most capable as Prime Minister.
Just 23 per cent picked Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who came in for more flak yesterday in the last PM’s questions before the June 8 election.
Polling firm Ipsos Mori put Mrs May’s standing above any since it launched in 1979. Lady Thatcher’s peak of 48 per cent came during the Falklands War in 1983. Three-term Labour Premier Tony Blair topped out at 52 per cent in 2001 and his successor Gordon Brown briefly hit 58 per cent just after he took over in 2007.
The latest poll also gave the Tories another jumbo lead of 22 points, while a YouGov survey said Mrs May’s personal standing had risen to +10 with Mr Corbyn slumping to -42.
The rankings gave Mrs May another boost as she clashed bitterly with Mr Corbyn in the Commons.
She hammered home her message with 27 mentions of the word “strong”.
She went her furthest yet to signal she would dump the long-standing Triple Lock pensions pledge, referring to it in the past tense.
TELLY ESTHER STEPS DOWN
FORMER telly star Esther McVey, who lost her Wirral West seat in 2015, is set for a Commons comeback by replacing George Osborne, who is stepping down. Local Tories selected her last night to fight the safe seat of Tatton.
Millionaire Zac Goldsmith will stand again in Richmond Park, South West London, after losing to the Lib Dems in a by-election called over Heathrow expansion.
It guarantees pensions rise each year by the inflation rate, average earnings or 2.5 per cent — whichever is highest. But it is understood No10 is thinking about dropping the 2.5 per cent element, leaving a more affordable “Double Lock” that would still be politically sellable.
And she went on to accuse Mr Corbyn of being “simply not up to the job” of running the country.
She said: “At the weekend, we saw him refusing to say he would strike against terrorism, refusing to commit to our nuclear deterrent and refusing to control our borders.
“Keeping a country safe is the first duty of a prime minister. He is simply not up to the job.”
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Meanwhile, a former shadow cabinet minister insisted that if Labour loses the election Mr Corbyn would have to step down for the “remarkable achievement” of being so bad.
Michael Dugher, the party’s ex-transport boss, said it would be “ridiculous” and an act of “profound self-indulgence and vanity” if Mr Corbyn stayed on after a defeat.
Mr Dugher, who is standing down as an MP, told the New Statesman magazine: “We’ve gone backwards against every demographic, every region of the country.”
Mr Corbyn’s spokesman later lashed out at the media. He added: “People will have a chance to hear Jeremy speak with his own voice. We are confident that we can win.”
But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stressed is was now vital for Britain to stick with the Tories as only they are able to stand up to the threats posed by IS, Russia and North Korea.
Delivering the annual Lord Mayor’s Banquet speech on foreign policy, he said: “Under this Government you know what you are getting — a Government that works to uphold our values, to protect our way of life and to stand strongly in defence of Britain’s interests.”
Mr Johnson also stood by the PM’s controversial pledge last week to keep to predecessor David Cameron’s foreign aid rules, which will see £13billion a year handed out.
He said: “I have seen with my own eyes the good we are doing, the lives we are changing.”
