Tory Party members have delivered a damning verdict on Rishi Sunak and his cabinet.
A record number of senior ministers - including the PM himself - have negative approval ratings with the Conservatives’ rank-and-file, according to a new survey.
The poll of Tory members for the ConservativeHome website showed that 12 of them have negative ratings, meaning more people are unsatisfied with their performance than are satisfied. That is up from 11 the month before.
The least popular, with a rating of minus 43.1, is illegal immigration minister Michael Tomlinson.
Sunak is next with a net satisfaction rating of minus 27.7, followed by chancellor Jeremy Hunt on minus 22.7.
Others in negative territory include Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden and Lord Cameron.
The most popular cabinet member, with a net satisfaction rating of plus 56.2, is business secretary Kemi Badenoch.
She is followed by Johnny Mercer, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat.
The accompanying article said: ”[The] result is also a good indicator of how much air has gone out of the Government over the past half a year – and that from a low base.
“Few people are ever likely to have very strong opinions about everyone who attends a body so large as the modern cabinet.
“The overall scores are, therefore, likely a useful barometer for our panel’s sentiments about the government as a whole.
“Five months into the Prime Minister’s post-conference fightback, it’s looking as bleak as ever it has.”
The findings come as the Tories continue to lag well behind Labour in the opinion polls, and with the party on course to lose hundreds of seats at next month’s local elections.