In a series of direct head to heads, the public believes Rishi Sunak is better placed to manage all 13 major policy areas over Nigel Farage – including the economy, pensions & welfare and defence & security – except immigration, according to new research from Savanta.
Sunak comfortably beats Reform UK’s leader among the public across:
- The economy (Sunak 40%, Farage 25%)
- Pensions and welfare (Sunak 39%, Farage 25%)
- Defence & security (Sunak 40%, Farage 28%)
However, Farage (38%) does beat Sunak (32%) among the public on who is better placed to manage immigration.
A majority (59%) of Conservative voters also back Sunak over Farage, with a third (34%) selecting the Reform UK leader on immigration, the highest of any policy area.
On leadership characteristics, UK adults are much more divided between Sunak and Farage. The public is more likely to rate Sunak as intelligent (41% vs. 25%) and narrowly more likely to say Sunak is talented (29% vs 27%).
Farage is more likely to be considered strong (36% vs. 27%) and decisive (35% vs. 29%), however the public is also more likely to say Farage is dangerous (43% vs. 26%).
Emma Levin, Associate Director at Savanta said, “Our research suggests that Nigel Farage has a ceiling as a national politician. There’s no denying he is a compelling issues campaigner, but on almost every policy issue, a historically unpopular Conservative leader would beat him in a head to head among the public.
“However, Sunak’s weaknesses as a politician are particularly exposed by our leadership characteristics, where Farage beats him on a number of areas including who is stronger and more decisive.”
