Boris Johnson Experiences Surge In Popularity Since UK Lockdown

As Covid-19 sweeps the globe, and nations battle to contain the pandemic, the actions of governments around the world have taken on greater significance. The stakes have never been so high during peacetime.

We at proquo ai have been monitoring the British Public’s feelings towards the governments of the UK and US since Sunday 22^nd March, the day before Boris Johnson’s lockdown announcement. We gather people’s feelings and thoughts about brands every single day. We run this data through our platform, organising it into 16 Drivers of brand growth to easily understand where brands are succeeding, and where they need to improve. 

And at a time when everyone and everything is a brand, from pop stars to politicians, and from governments to consumer goods brands, it's never been more important to track people's feelings - in real-time - towards your brand.

Over 27 million people tuned in to watch the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging people to stay at home for at least three weeks. His strategy had gone from social distancing to lockdown overnight. And our platform saw the immediate impact on his government’s Popularity score, which has seen an 11% boost since 23^rd March. But Popularity is just one of our 16 Drivers we have proven determine the success of brands. The UK government has seen hikes across all 16.

After Popularity, the largest shifts in public sentiment relate to Differentiation and Clarity, which went up by 8%. The fact that Boris Johnson and members of his Cabinet tested positive for Covid-19 could even have contributed to other boosts, such as Integrity (up by 7%) and Transparency (up by 2%).

By monitoring the comments on our newly launched Covid-19 Impact Tracker, it’s clear that despite the NHS being the most politicised government asset, support for the government at this time is coming from across the political spectrum.

One comment read: “I’m not a Tory, I’m a socialist voter, but I believe our government has acted excellently. I’m impressed with everyone involved.” Another said: “It has actually made me feel a lot better about Boris Johnson. I think he is doing a really good job.”

Meanwhile Donald Trump’s US government has managed a mere 1% rise in popularity and seen some spectacular falls in other areas: Transparency score is -18%, Clarity -11%, and Integrity -6%.

With the President’s U-turn from playing down the pandemic from something akin to seasonal flu to now warning Americans that the next two weeks are going to be “very, very painful”, we will continue to track how his decisions impact public perception among the British public towards his administration.