Twice as many voters trust May over Corbyn with economy and Brexit – poll

Theresa May is trusted by more than twice as many voters as Jeremy Corbyn to run the economy well and handle Brexit negotiations effectively, according to an Opinium/Observer poll to mark her first 100 days as prime minister.

The findings also show May is regarded as strong, decisive, and able to get things done and stand up for Britain’s interests abroad by more than double the number of voters who attribute these qualities to the Labour leader.

The survey conducted last week indicates that she is still building respect among voters three months into her leadership, despite troubles in her cabinet and heated arguments in parliament over Brexit.

Some 46% of voters now think more positively about her than they did when she became prime minister while only 15% think more negatively, with 51% judging her first 100 days to have been an overall success. This compares with only 29% who said the same of Corbyn 100 days after he was elected Labour leader for the first time in September last year.

The evidence of a prolonged honeymoon with the electorate is bound to encourage those in Conservative circles who believe May should call a general election soon, in order to gain a personal mandate for difficult negotiations about leaving the EU, and to give herself a chance to increase the Tory majority in the House of Commons beyond its current level of 17. May has said she will not call an election before 2020.

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The poll puts the Tories on 39% of the vote, Labour on 30%, Ukip on 13%, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party both on 6% and the Greens on 4%.

Despite the Lib Dems’ impressive performance in last week’s Witney byelection, in which they leapfrogged Labour and Ukip to take second place, there is no sign of a national revival of the party’s fortunes.

Just 13% say they approve of Tim Farron’s leadership of the party with 55% having no view and 33% disapproving, suggesting he is making little impression.

By contrast, 46% of voters approve of the way Theresa May has performed so far against 24% who disapprove.

Just 22% of voters approve of the way Corbyn is leading Labour against 50% who disapprove.

Some 44% trust May and her chancellor, Philip Hammond, to run the economy best while just 16% say Corbyn and the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, would do the best job.

In addition, 33% believe a May-led Conservative party is best to conduct Brexit negotiations against just 13% who would prefer Corbyn and Labour to be running the talks with the UK’s partners.

• Opinium conducted the poll of 2,005 UK adults aged 18+ between 18 and 21 October. Results have been weighted to national representative criteria.