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Polanski is the most unpopular he has been since becoming Green leader
Key takeaways
- The number of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of Polanski is eight points higher than it was prior to the Golders Green attack
- Twice as many have a negative view of the Green leader (47%) as a positive one (22%)
- The shift primarily comes from 2024 Conservative, Reform and Lib Dem voters
On Thursday last week, Zack Polanski reposted a tweet criticising police officers for kicking the head of the Golders Green stabbing suspect in order to get him to relinquish his knife.
The Green party leader has come in for significant criticism as a result, including from Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley, and has since apologised for the retweet, saying he had done so “in haste”.
Now new YouGov data shows that negative attitudes towards Polanski have spiked following the incident.
Immediately prior to the retweet, in a poll on 28-29 April, 39% of Britons had an unfavourable view of the Green leader. As of our latest poll on 4-5 May, that figure has now risen to 47% - an increase of eight points.
This is more than double the 22% with a favourable opinion of Polanski, and by far his worst rating since becoming Green leader last year.
Negativity has increased most dramatically among those who backed rival parties at the 2024 general election, with negative attitudes among Lib Dems increasing 15pts to 45%, among Tories by 14pts to 72%, and among Reform voters by 13pts to 80%. Changes among Labour and Green voters are within the margin of error, with 35% of the former and 23% of the latter having a negative opinion of Polanski.
See full results for the following dates here:
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Photo: ChatGPT