Conservatives turn on Boris Johnson over handling of UK’s Covid-19 crisis

As virtual party conference gets under way, Tories rebel on both wings and PM's popularity plunges to a record low

Boris Johnson's reputation among Conservative members has plunged to a record low, it has emerged, as the party enters its annual conference facing accusations of a chumocracy" at the top of government.

With Tory MPs restless over the government's performance, which has seen it lose a huge poll lead over Labour since the start of the pandemic, the prime minister has recorded his first ever negative satisfaction rating among a survey of Tory members on the ConservativeHome website. He recorded the second-lowest score of any cabinet member, with only education secretary Gavin Williamson performing worse.