At the turn of the year, the proportion of people saying they approved of Mr Johnson’s performance was, on average, as much as nine points adrift of where it had been in October.
In the words of John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, Boris is now “a deeply unpopular prime minister”.
That’s as maybe. But there is one area where the Conservatives, under Boris Johnson, have been spectacularly successful to the non-partisan. And that’s jobs.
So, as counter-intuitive as it might feel to many, and as contradictory as it might seem to some, the objective view on Boris and his government, when it comes to the employment examination, simply has to be: ‘hats off all round’.
Boris' jobs boom:
Fighting for talent in a competitive job market
Demand for workers remains high as staffing shortages grow
Global hiring boom expected with post-COVID expansion
At the start of the pandemic, Boris Johnson and the chancellor showed steely determination to prevent irreparable damage to jobs. Early predictions suggested unemployment would reach 12%.
But it has continued to fall and is now at 4.1% and companies have added 184,000 people to their payrolls since furlough ended. The furlough scheme kept millions of people connected to their employers. Kickstart has helped more than 113,000 young people into life-changing jobs.
The Department for Work and Pensions' sector-based work academies have helped crucial sectors to fill their vacancies with people from all age groups.
Guaranteed loans for struggling businesses and individuals, and tax cuts for hospitality have done the trick. The Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed in parliament that the Plan for Jobs had succeeded in preventing mass unemployment.
It’s got the incredible point that in a survey of 500 hiring managers in the UK, nine in every 20 (45%) told us they would consider rehiring an employee they’d previously let go. The results reflect the pressure on employers suffering from COVID-driven labour shortages.
While many of these successes have been well documented, there’s more to Boris’ jobs record.
The announcement of the cut to the Universal Credit taper rate, from 63p to 55p. That’s a significant tax cut and one aimed at those most in need of it.
When the Tories were in opposition, David Cameron railed against the 96% marginal tax rate facing people moving from welfare into work.
Universal Credit, introduced by the coalition government, was meant to solve this problem but George Osborne kept the taper rate high, blunting the purpose of the reform, which was supposed to ensure that work always paid.
The change to the taper rate is therefore welcome. The lower taper means that most full-time workers will gain more from this change than they will lose from the end of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, which was introduced as an emergency measure during the pandemic.
Furthermore, low earners saw wages increase with the rise in the minimum wage, to £9.50 an hour.
Full-time workers will get a £1,000-a-year pay rise through the introduction of a 6.6% increase to the National Living Wage.
The National Minimum Wage, which applies to 22-year-olds and younger, will increase at different rates – with 21- and 22-years-olds’ salaries rising from £8.36 to £9.18 and apprentices enjoying an almost 12% increase from £4.30 to £4.81. This has helped make work pay.
I regard these numbers as a cause for celebration. Although maybe not a celebration so heinous, I'd have to launch an inquiry into whether or not it had happened at my house.
Adrian Smith is senior director of operations at Randstad UK
