Johnson’s Tories Still Lead Starmer’s Labour by Eight Points After Afghan Pull-Out

The British Conservative Party holds a strong lead over the opposition — despite the chaos and bloodshed of the Kabul airlift.

A poll conducted on Monday by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party had not increased its support over the past seven days. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Tories had slipped slightly from 43 per cent to 41, to the benefit of small parties.

Support for the Liberal Democrats and Greens both declined by one point. In general election terms, those figures could still translate to a Conservative majority in the mid-30s, according to the Electoral Calculus website.

Despite the tragedy and the chaotic circumstances of the hurried evacuation, 45 per cent of people still thought Johnson made the better PM, compared to 27 per cent who thought Starmer would. A similar number thought the PM stood up for British interests, while 37 per cent said he had a better foreign policy strategy — compared to just 25 per cent for the opposition leader.

However, rumours circulated on Monday that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who was criticised for his handling of the crisis, would be sacked in a looming cabinet reshuffle.

Popal, who emigrated to Britain in 1999 and ran his own grocery shop in the north London suburb of Edgware, was visiting relatives in the country when he was caught up in the panic following the hasty US decision to evacuate its embassy.

Niazi, who worked as a taxi driver in Aldershot, Hampshire, was killed along with his wife and two of their children, who were Afghan nationals after travelling to the country via Azerbaijan to try and get them on a flight to the UK.

Some 600 troops from the British army's Parachute Regiment, deployed to Kabul to help evacuate UK citizens and Afghans who worked for British forces, returned safely over the weekend.