Most of the voters polled by YouGov, an internet-based market research and data analytics company, say that UK PM Boris Johnson should resign from his role, the results of a snap survey suggest. Britons were polled on April 12, the same day Johnson received a fine for having flouted the strict social-distancing mandate his own government had imposed on the public at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
YouGov reports that 57 percent of respondents say Johnson should resign as prime minister, while 30 percent say he should stay in the position, and 13 percent say they don’t know whether or not Johnson should step down.
The results of a separate YouGov poll, held on March 8, showed 47% of respondents saying Johnson should resign, with 16% answering that he should stay in the role, despite being the only sitting head of government in the history of the UK Parliament to incur a penalty for breaking the law. When it comes to voters who favor the Conservative party, which is led by Johnson, 25% say he should resign, up from 17% in March.
Tuesday’s poll also asked respondents whether Johnson “knowingly” lied when, facing reports implicating him in the Partygate scandal, he claimed that he was unaware that the gathering he attended was illegal under the lockdown. A wide margin – 75% – say that they think Johnson “did knowingly lie,” with a majority of fellow Conservatives – 55% – holding this view.
Meanwhile, just 12% of respondents say they believe Johnson’s assertion that he wasn’t aware he was breaking the law, whereas fewer than one in four Conservatives say they believe him.