Only a few weeks ago, it seemed as though U.K. politics could not possibly talk about anything besides Brexit, even after the country’s departure from the European Union. Business as usual was expected to return at some unspecified point in the future.
As elsewhere, the coronavirus has turned British politics on its head. Unlike Brexit, which continues to divide opinion fairly evenly, the new coronavirus crisis has prompted an outbreak of recently unfamiliar unity. Polling firm Number Cruncher polling finds personal ratings for Boris Johnson — himself now diagnosed with COVID-19 — that have not been seen for a British prime minister since the early days of Tony Blair’s prime ministership in 1997.
The 1,010 interviews were conducted last Tuesday through Thursday, following Johnson’s televised address on Monday, but completed before Johnson himself revealed that he had tested positive for the virus.