Latest polling: Boris Johnson would be in Slytherin at Hogwarts

According to YouGov opinion polling, Boris Johnson would have been chosen to join Slytherin, the same house as villain Draco Malfoy. Picture: Warner Bros - Credit: Warner Bros

The sorting hat would have put Boris Johnson into Slytherin House at Hogwarts, according to the latest polling – which also he’s going to find it far harder to win votes outside of his own party.

A YouGov poll asked respondents which house at Harry Potter’s school would have suited our next prime minister best, and the most common choice for Johnson – 42% – was Slytherin.

Slytherin, which housed many of the JK Rowling series’ villains, is said to value ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness. Just 5% of respondents said Johnson would have been picked for Hufflepuff, or Harry Potter’s own house Gryffindor.

Aside from the wizard-themed speculation, the YouGov poll also revealed big challenges for Boris Johnson with voters outside of his party.

He won over the Conservative membership by a large majority to clinch the leadership – beating Jeremy Hunt to number 10 by over 20,000 party members’ votes. But this accounts for roughly 0.2% of the population.

MORE: Boris Johnson to become prime minister with 0.2% of the nation’s voteBut the survey, conducted over the weekend, reveals that he is viewed far less favourably outside of his base.

Nearly six out of 10 people (58%) had an unfavourable view of Johnson, while just three in 10 viewed him favourably. By comparison, Theresa May had persuaded 48% of people to view her in a good light when she took over.

Though half of people surveyed thought of him as a good mayor of London, almost half of the respondents felt Johnson was a bad foreign secretary – and 46% believe he will worsen the UK’s image abroad.

Fifty-two per cent of people responding said he’ll be a “completely new type of prime minister” – but when asked about specific qualities, it turns out “new” may not mean “good”.

Over half the people asked by YouGov said he was: “incompetent” (53%), “putting on an act” (55%), “untrustworthy” (58%), “dishonest” (53%) and “out of touch” (63%).

But he was also deemed “likeable” (43%) “strong” (41%) and “not a racist” (40%).