Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt's popularity plummets among Tory members after Autumn Statement

 Prime Minister's approval rating means he is now sixth from bottom in a monthly Cabinet league table

Source - Daily Telegraph 30/11/22

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Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt's popularity has plummeted among Conservative Party members in the wake of tax rises in the Autumn Statement.

Mr Sunak's approval rating means he is now sixth from bottom in the monthly league table of Cabinet approval ratings published by the ConservativeHome website.

The Prime Minister was the fifth most popular frontbencher in the previous survey, published on November 3, with a net approval rating of 49.9 per cent.

But his first full month in office, which included the announcement of £24 billion of tax rises on November 17, has seen this fall to just nine per cent.

Hunt on minus 9.9 per cent

Mr Hunt, the Chancellor, is now in negative territory on minus 9.9 per cent, a fall of 30 percentage points on his previous rating (29.7 per cent).

The figures suggest any initial boost gained from the relative political stability brought about by Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt is wearing off and they are struggling to win over the membership.

Forty-nine per cent of Conservative members do not support the Government's economic policy, while 42 per cent do, polling by ConservativeHome also found on Tuesday.

The overall popularity of the Cabinet with the grassroots has also plummeted in light of recent decisions. At 21.7 per cent, it is lower than the 23.7 per cent recorded in the only survey of Ms Truss's short-lived premiership.

Wallace most popular on 83.2 per cent

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, remains the most popular Cabinet minister (83.2 per cent), followed by Kemi Badenoch, the International Trade Secretary (63.4 per cent), and James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary (61.7 per cent).

The growing Channel migrant crisis means Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, is the least popular Cabinet member with an approval rating of minus 25.4 per cent.

But Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has risen slightly in popularity - from 20.4 per cent to 21.9 per cent - after she successfully weathered a political storm around leaked documents.

Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, is down from 35.7 per cent to 17.6 per cent amid a series of bullying allegations. The claims, which are denied by Mr Raab, are the subject of an ongoing independent investigation.

Andrew Mitchell, who returned to Government after his appointment as a development minister, is also in negative territory on minus 8.2 per cent.

Mr Mitchell has been a staunch advocate of foreign aid and as a backbencher would regularly call for the UK's overseas aid budget to return to 0.7 per cent of GDP as soon as possible.