Ed Miliband is the most popular cabinet minister among Labour Party members, according to a Survation poll for Labour List. The energy secretary topped the poll, and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, came second. Keir Starmer, the actual prime minister, came well down the league table, in 17th place out of 24.
Surveys of Labour members are rare. This is the first I know of since October 2023, so it lights up a hidden part of the political landscape like a flash of lightning. What it reveals is that party members are sentimental pragmatists. They love a loser. They admire politicians with supposedly left-wing principles, and they do not accept, at this stage, that Miliband’s net zero policies or Rayner’s employment rights law risk losing votes.
