Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Lucy Jackson

Keir Starmer now as unpopular with public as Nigel Farage, polling suggests

KEIR Starmer is now as unpopular as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, the latest opinion polling has suggested.

Some 60% of people now hold an unfavourable opinion of the Labour Party, according to pollsters at YouGov, just three months after it swept to power with a landslide majority at the General Election.

Starmer’s net favourability ratings have dropped to -36 with the British public, while Farage (below) is at -35.

Outgoing Conservative party leader Rishi Sunak is, however, less popular than either of them, with a -42 rating among the public.

The latest research by YouGov took a sample size of 2121 adults across Britain between October 4 and 6.

Some 27% of people surveyed have a favourable opinion of Starmer (below), while 63% have an unfavourable opinion, and 9% do not know, giving him a net score of -36 favourability.

LibDem leader Ed Davey scores much better with the public among the political party leaders, with only a -7 net rating, though 43% of those polled said they did not know what their opinion was of him.

Among Starmer’s top team, no Cabinet minister had a net positive rating, though Rachel Reeves has the least favourable opinion among the public, scoring -29.

Opinion of the Chancellor may have been coloured by her announcement that the Government will scrap the universal Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners, limiting the benefit to only the poorest.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was seen as the second least favourable Cabinet minister among the public, with a -25 net rating, while Transport Secretary Louise Haigh had the most favourable rating with a -8 score, though some 82% of those polled did not have an opinion on her.

Top Government adviser Sue Gray (above), who left her role as No 10 chief of staff this weekend to act as an “envoy” to the nations and regions, meanwhile has a net -22 favourability rating with the public.

Labour is judged unfavourably by 60% of the public in the latest research, just ahead of Reform UK at 59%.

The Tories continue to be the least popular political party following the election, with 65% of the public holding an unfavourable view of them.

Elsewhere, none of the Tory leadership contenders had a net positive favourability with the public.

Kemi Badenoch (above) was the least popular, with a -27 rating.

Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly both had a -19 rating, while Tom Tugendhat was seen as the most favourable among those polled with a -13 rating.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.