Sir Keir Starmer had the best overall performance at the Sky News leaders’ event, a YouGov snap poll suggests.
Almost two-thirds – 64% – of those questioned said the Labor leader had emerged victorious, compared with 36% who thought the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did better.
The question was: leaving aside your party preference, who do you think had the best overall performance in tonight’s televised leaders’ event?
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During the Battle For Number 10 programme, broadcast live from Grimsby Town Hall, each leader faced a 20-minute interview with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, followed by 25 minutes of questions from the audience.
Then, when voters were asked in the survey who seemed more trustworthy, 58% said Mr Keirwhile 28% declared Mr Sunak.
Furthermore, 56% said Sir Keir was more likable, compared to 29% for his rival.
According to 71%, the Labor leader seemed to be more in touch with ordinary people, while 13% opted for the prime minister.
And when voters were asked who looked more prime ministerial, 50% said it was Sir Keir, with 35% saying it was Mr Sunak.
Sample participants were also asked who they thought performed best during the NHS section.
According to the poll, 70% chose Sir Keir, compared with 20% for Mr Sunak.
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When it came to who performed best in the section on issues facing young people, 58% chose Sir Keir, with 27% choosing the Prime Minister.
In the section on the economy, it was closer – 49% for the Labor leader and 42% for the Conservative leader.
There were almost honors – even in the tax section – 42% for Sir Keir and 41% for Mr Sunak.
Additionally, when voters were asked what words (up to three from a list) they would use to describe the event, 52% said “interesting”, 47% chose “frustrating”, 37% chose “engaging”, 27% said ” useful” and 26% chose “vague”.
During the event, Mr Sunak was asked by Beth Rigby about the progress he has made on the five key priorities he set out at the start of last year.
As part of his response, he commented that the junior doctors’ strikes had an impact on NHS waiting lists – and was loudly booed by an audience member as a result.
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Earlier, Sir Keir appeared briefly perplexed after an audience member suggested he had become a “political robot” and asked how he would convince people to vote for him.
After a brief pause and a laugh from the audience, Sir Keir emphasized a history of public service, particularly as director of public prosecutions, and said he was not “tribally political”.
Asked if Sir Keir convinced him, the audience member said: “You don’t seem to answer the question.”
The Labor leader also said his party’s manifesto, due to be published on Thursday, will contain no tax surprises, while Sunak continued to insist he will “continue to fight hard until the last day of this election”.
Around 1,864 respondents participated in the survey.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
