Public unimpressed with Johnson's handling of situation in Ukraine, Ipsos finds

Just a fifth of UK residents think Prime Minister Boris Johnson is doing a good job of handling the situation in Ukraine, with a similar proportion believing Labour leader Keir Starmer would do a better job.

Johnson, who has repeatedly said a potential conflict in the region is more important than the partygate scandal engulfing him at home, flew to Ukraine earlier this week amid escalating tensions between the former Soviet republic and neighbouring superpower Russia.

He met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss what help the UK could offer and is understood to have spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin about scaling back the military presence his country has assembled along its border with Ukraine.

According to research by Ipsos, however, just one in five Britons think the Prime Minister has done a good job of handling the situation, while two in five (41 per cent) think he has done a bad job. At the same time, just 22 per cent believe Starmer would do a better job.

Among their own supporters, Johnson received more support than Starmer, with half of 2019 Conservative voters saying Johnson would do a better job while 42 per cent of Labour voters said Starmer would do better.

Ipsos UK research director Keiran Pedley said the results are reflective of public opinion on Johnson more generally.

“The public are twice as likely to think Prime Minister Boris Johnson is doing a bad job handling the situation in the Ukraine rather than a good one, which reflects his deteriorating poll ratings of late,” he said.

“However, when asked to choose who would handle the situation better, roughly equal numbers choose Starmer and Johnson, with more than half saying neither or don’t know.

“In terms of the government’s response, there is support for diplomatic and humanitarian efforts but little appetite for a potential military confrontation with Russia. Some one in five think Britain should not intervene at all.”

The research was conducted among a representative sample of 2,060 British adults aged between 16 and 75 with interviews conducted online between 28 and 29 January.