Starmer vs Farage vs Badenoch vs Corbyn – what the British public thinks of its leaders right now
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s favourability ratings have remained largely static this month, new data from YouGov shows.
Around a quarter of Britons (24%) have a positive opinion of the prime minister, while 68% see him unfavourably. This leaves the Labour leader with a net rating of -44, identical to his rating in July.
By comparison, attitudes towards Nigel Farage have been very stable in recent months, with his net rating consistently between -27 and -31 since the local elections in May.
The latest figures show a third of Britons (32%) have a favourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, while six in ten (61%) see him unfavourably, giving a net rating in August of -29.
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch’s ratings have also seen little month-on-month change, though the proportion of Britons with a favourable opinion of her has trended upwards from 16% in mid-May to 21% now. Nonetheless, most Britons (52%) still see the Conservative leader in a negative light, giving Badenoch a net favourability score of -31.
After months of speculation, the launch of a new left-wing party co-led by Jeremy Corbyn has now been confirmed. Going into this new role, around a quarter of Britons (26%) have a positive view of the former Labour leader, while 61% see him unfavourably.
This gives Corbyn a net favourability score of -35, nine points better than that of Keir Starmer, his successor as Labour leader. Most of this difference is among Green voters, among whom Corbyn’s rating of +25 contrasts hugely with Starmer’s far weaker -58.
While the difference is not nearly as substantial, 2024 Labour voters do see Starmer a little more positively (+4 net rating) than Corbyn (-12).
Other senior political figures,
Numbers for senior cabinet ministers have seen little movement, remaining negative. For the 21% of Britons who see Angela Rayner favourably, 53% see the deputy prime minister unfavourably, both figures unchanged from last month.
One in six Britons (16%) have a positive opinion of Rachel Reeves, while 63% see the chancellor unfavourably. Foreign Secretary David Lammy attracts less negative feelings (44%), although this is more a product of being less well-known, with still only 14% of Britons having a good opinion of him.
Even among 2024 Labour voters, nearly half (45%) see Reeves unfavourably, relative to a third (34%) having a favourable opinion of the chancellor. Labour voters are split on Lammy, with 26% seeing him favourably and 32% unfavourably.
