UK PM's approval rating drops by 20 pts after aide scandal

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approval rating has dropped 20 points to -1 per cent after he refused to sack his chief aide, Dominic Cummings for allegedly breaking coronavirus lockdown rules, it was reported on Tuesday.

According to Savanta, a coronavirus data tracker which looks at how the UK population is responding to the pandemic, the Prime Minister's rating was previously +19 per cent just four days ago, the Metro newspaper reported.

It stated that the overall government approval rate is now at -2 per cent, having dropped 16 points in a day.

Johnson's approval rating is now also the lowest of all the individuals examined, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock's the second lowest at 4 per cent.

Cummings' rating has not been tracked.

Labour leader Keir Starmer's approval rating also lifted to 12 per cent on Monday, while Chancellor Rishi Sunak dropped from 35 per cent four days ago to 20 per cent.

Cummings has been accused of breaking lockdown rules he helped make after it emerged he travelled from London to his parents home in Durham when his wife fell ill with suspected coronavirus in March, reports the Metro newspaper.

The Prime Minister's chief adviser has refused to step down over the allegations, admitting he never considered resigning and he doesn't regret his actions.

At a press conference on Monday, Johnson admitted he regrets the "confusion and pain" the scandal has caused the British public.

But he said that he believed Cummings acted "legally" and "with integrity".