Theresa May unpopular across Europe, YouGov poll finds
The Prime Minister will head to a G20 summit in Germany this week as an unpopular world leader, a new survey shows.
Thursday 6 July 2017 14:57, UK
Theresa May is unpopular not just in the UK but across Europe as she prepares to enter Brexit talks, a new poll has revealed.
The results of a YouGov survey, shared with Sky News, show both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron are popular with voters throughout the continent.
But Britain's Prime Minister is disliked both at home and abroad, although her unpopularity among Europeans does not match that of US President Donald Trump or Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, this week, YouGov asked more than 8,000 people across seven European nations for their views on prominent world leaders attending.
Mrs May had a negative rating in all countries, with the Prime Minister viewed most unfavourably in Germany.
Among the 2,070 Germans surveyed, 62% had an unfavourable view of Mrs May with just 17% viewing her favourably, giving the PM an overall rating of -45 in the European powerhouse.
Mrs May also had a negative rating in France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Of the 1,661 British adults asked, 59% were unfavourable towards the Prime Minister with 32% viewing her favourably, a rating of -27.
Mr Trump was least popular in Denmark, with an overall favourability rating of -80, with close to eight out of 10 voters in all seven European countries disliking the US President.
Mrs Merkel was liked by more than half of those asked across all countries apart from the UK, where 42% viewed her favourably and 39% were unfavourable towards the German Chancellor.
Elected to the French presidency in May this year, Mr Macron was liked across all countries but was least-liked in his home nation.
Mr Putin, who has seen sanctions imposed on his country by the EU amid Moscow's backing for separatists in eastern Ukraine, was viewed negatively in all seven countries.
However, Germans and French were noticeably warmer to the Russian President than Mr Trump, with more than one-fifth viewing him favourably in both nations.
Commenting on the results of the poll, Joe Twyman, YouGov's head of political and social research, told Sky News it was a "pretty safe bet" the UK Prime Minister was viewed negatively due to Britain's exit from the EU, as well as her General Election disaster.
He asked: "What does this mean for Theresa May's bargaining position in both the EU and externally, in America and former Commonwealth countries, when she attempts to strike new trade deals?"
Mr Twyman suggested the French President was universally popular not just because he is a fresh face but because he is "centrist, liberal, young and outside the established political order".
Despite having led Germany for more than 11 years, Mrs Merkel is still viewed positively because she "genuinely is strong and stable", Mr Twyman said.
He added: "She walks the walk and talks the talk and achieves."
Among British voters, those who are pro-Brexit and anti-EU are in turn less positive towards European leaders, the polling expert said.
The survey was carried out in the last week of June.