When it comes close to an election, politicians are often seen being chased down the street by cameras and journalists on their morning run.
This is often the most insight given into politicians exercise routines, so we decided to see which UK politician over 2,300 gym goers would least like to have as their gym buddy.
UK prime minister and conservative leader Rishi Sunak came out on top, with over half (53%) of those surveyed claiming he would be the worst political gym buddy.
According to our research, those aged 21 – 30 (20%) and people who lived in Greater London (7%) were least likely to choose him to visit the gym with.
Half (50%) also thought that Sunak was the most likely to be dishonest and give fake details to get a free gym pass, followed by Nicola Sturgeon – the First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party – (15%) and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (15%).
Despite people not wanting to head to the gym with Sunak, the survey did reveal that a third (33%) of respondents believed that he could bench press more than all other leading politicians in the UK.
Sturgeon was the nation’s second worst potential gym buddy (19%), but when it came to bench pressing she was closely beaten by Starmer, with 25% of gym-goers believing he could lift the heaviest weight, compared to the 24% who thought Sturgeon could.
The nation’s favourite gym buddies were the leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, with only 6% claiming they would be the worst.
The nation’s worst political gym buddies were:
1. Rishi Sunak (Conservatives) 53%
2. Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland) 19%
3. Sir Keir Starmer (Labour) 15%
4. Mark Drakeford (First Minister of Wales) 6%
= Sir Ed Davey (Liberal Democrats) 6%
Methodology: Consumer research was conducted during February 2023 across 2,343 UK-based gym goers across multiple gym brands and locations via Hussle.
