Starmer’s popularity falls to record low: poll

A new poll published by YouGov on Friday, 16 May shows that just 23% of Britons now express a favourable view of the prime minister Keir Starmer, a five-point drop from this time last month and equalling his July 2021 nadir as opposition leader.

However, with the proportion of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of the Labour leader rising from 62% in mid-April to 69% today, Starmer’s net favourability rating has sunk to -46, his lowest ever recorded by YouGov.

Notably, the data shows that the fall in Starmer’s popularity is concentrated among Labour voters, half of whom (50%) now have an unfavourable view of the prime minister, a 17-point increase from mid-April. The proportion with a favourable opinion has correspondingly fallen from 62% to 45% over the last month.

This is the first time Keir Starmer has recorded a net negative approval rating among Labour voters, YouGov said.

By comparison, opinion of Nigel Farage has improved. A third of Britons (32%) now have a favourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, up five points from mid-April and the highest YouGov has recorded for him since he took over leadership of the party last June.

Six in ten Britons (59%) still hold an unfavourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, giving him a net favourability rating of -27, up from -38 a month ago.

The boost in Nigel Farage’s popularity is more universal than the fall in Starmer’s, with his net rating improving among supporters of all major parties. This is, though, most notable with 2024 Labour voters, where his net rating now stands at -64, up from -79 this time last month.

Among those who voted for the Conservatives last year, Nigel Farage has flipped his -5 net favourability rating from last month to +5 this month. His standing with Reform UK voters has recovered from its dip after his row with Rupert Lowe in March, with 87% having a favourable opinion of the Reform leader.

Labour’s popularity hit isn’t merely limited to Keir Starmer, with worst-ever net favourability scores also recorded this month by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (-31) and home secretary Yvette Cooper (-25), while Rachel Reeves has equalled her -48 net favourability rating recorded in mid-April.

The party itself has also fallen to new depths, with 65% of Britons saying they have an unfavourable view of Labour, up from 61% in mid-April and the highest recorded since YouGov began asking this question in June 2017.

Just six in ten of those who voted Labour last July (59%) now have a favourable opinion of the party, down from 66% in mid-April. This also means that, even among their own voters, Labour are now no more popular than the Greens.

The Conservatives are also struggling to maintain the enthusiasm of their own voters, with the proportion of their 2024 electorate with a favourable opinion of the party falling from 78% this time last month to 71% today. A majority of Conservative voters (53%) now have a favourable opinion of Reform UK.