The total number who think the Mayor handled the crisis well is 24% – well below the 54% who believed he performed “badly”.
Mayor Johnson’s total ‘badly’ score is below that for Prime Minister David Cameron (57%) and Home Secretary Theresa May (58%) however this may merely reflect the falling number of Londoners who believe the Mayor is responsible for policing in the capital.
In May the Annual London Survey revealed a sharp decline in the public’s association of City Hall with policing despite the Mayor’s insistence he is the “de facto head” of the Met.
In the survey the percentage of those believing responsibility for policing lay with the Government remained flat – 37% in 2011 compared with 38% last year – while the percentage answering ‘Mayor/Greater London Authority’ fell from 26 to 21 in the same period.
The YouGov poll will be met with disappointment by both City Hall and the Mayor’s re-election campaign which has sought to play up his policing credentials.
The poll comes just a day after the Mayor was heckled during a walkabout in Clapham Junction and follows suggestions that he has “blown” his chances of re-election.
The Mayor’s efforts to be seen leading the ‘fightback’ against the rioters will not be helped by reports he was late for this morning’s meeting of the Government’s COBRA committee.
While Londoners have been critical of politicians, their view of the police is more positive with 52% saying the Met handled the situation “well”.
