Rishi Sunak’s approval rating in the “Blue Wall” has sunk to its lowest level since February, a poll has found.

The “Blue Wall” refers to 42 seats in the south of England where the Tories have traditionally won but where support has been slipping in recent years.

A survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on July 2 gave Sunak a rating of minus eight, with 30 per cent of voters in these areas approving of his performance and 38 per cent disapproving.

It is Sunak’s worst score since February 26 when he was on minus 10. In contrast, Keir Starmer was in positive territory with an approval rating of plus five, with 31 per cent of voters approving of his performance and 26 per cent disapproving.

The Tories won 42 of the “Blue Wall” seats at the 2019 general election with almost 50 per cent of the vote to the Liberal Democrats’ 27 per cent. Labour came third in this collection of seats, taking 21 per cent of the vote.

The latest poll gives Labour a seven-point lead over the Tories in the seats with the party backed by 36 per cent of voters and the Conservatives backed by 29 per cent.

The Lib Dems are down at 25 per cent.

The pollsters also asked voters which party they trusted on 12 key issues, and Labour came top in nine, including tackling poverty and supporting the NHS.

The Tories only came top in three — Ukraine, foreign affairs and coronavirus.

Altogether, 84 per cent of those who voted Labour in 2019 say they would vote Labour again, while 73 per cent of those who voted Lib Dem say they would vote for the party at the next election.

Only 52 per cent of 2019 Conservative voters now say they would vote Conservative again if a general election were held tomorrow.

Fifteen per cent say they would vote for Labour, 8 per cent would switch to Reform UK, and 5 per cent would support the Lib Dems.

The poll comes a day after Sunak admitted to MPs that one of his five priorities — halving inflation — was proving harder to achieve than anticipated.