Boris Johnson still backed by voters as best choice for Prime Minister two years on from thumping general election win

BORIS Johnson is still backed by voters as the best choice for Prime Minister two years on from his thumping general election win.

He won the backing of 41 per cent in a head-to-head ­contest with Sir Keir Starmer, who scored 33 per cent.

But both are in net negative territory when it comes to their leadership — with the PM on minus 11 and in a worse situation than his rival on minus 3 in the Deltapoll survey.

Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are seen as the safest hands on the economy, beating Labour counterparts Starmer and Rachel Reeves by 43 per cent to 34 per cent.

But more worryingly for the PM, Labour scored 38 per cent on voting intentions and are leading by a point.

The Conservatives’ voter share is down three per cent on last month.

The public gave the PM a score of just 4.7 out of 10 for his performance since polling in December 2019.

One Tory MP warned: “Boris needs to shake up his Downing Street team and show who is in charge.”

The findings come ahead of the North Shropshire by-election on December 16, where senior Tory figures are understood to be “jittery and nervous” despite previously holding a 23,000 majority.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “Boris Johnson is facing a nightmare before Christmas in North Shropshire.”

The vote follows the resignation of Tory MP Owen Paterson, who breached parliamentary lobbying rules.

Deltapoll interviewed 1,553 British adults online between December 2 and 4.