Keir Starmer’s approval has crashed to a historic low – and he’s now as unpopular as Jeremy Corbyn was before Labour’s 2019 election disaster
New findings from polling group Ipsos show that likeability ratings for both the Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have hit record lows.
Overall, Ed Davey and Zack Polanski are currently the most liked among the main UK political leaders, with 31% of Britons each saying they like them, and 39% disliking each (though 3 in 10 and 4 in 10 respectively say they don’t know enough about them).
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage follow behind with 27% liking each, but with majorities saying they do not like either of them (55% Badenoch, 62% Farage).
Keir Starmer reaches new lows
Keir Starmer has the lowest likeability ratings, with 20% saying they like the Prime Minister and 70% who do not. Keir Starmer’s likeability rating of 20% is down from 34% in June 2024, and his net score of -50 matches the lowest recorded by Ipsos for a Labour party leader since the trend began in 2007.
By comparison, Jeremy Corbyn also recorded a net likeability score of -50 in November 2019 when 23% said they liked him and 73% did not.
Kemi Badenoch’s likeability rating of 27% also matches the previous low recorded by Boris Johnson in June 2022, though he recorded more dislikes at 67%, meaning his net score of -40 remains the lowest recorded by a Conservative party leader (compared with Badenoch’s 28).
Nigel Farage’s net likeability rating of -35 is slightly down on his score of -29 in November 2019, but not quite at his previous low of -40 in November 2019.
Ed Davey’s net rating of -8 is marginally down from -5 in June 2024, though not at Nick Clegg’s -34 in October 2012. Zack Polanski’s net rating of -8 is slightly down from Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay’s score of +1 in June 2024.
Labour’s popularity also falls
The Labour Party is the most liked party, liked by 34% of Britons but disliked by 56%. This is worse than June 2024, when 50% liked the party, and 41% disliked it, and the net score of -22 is the lowest Labour has received in the Ipsos trend going back to 2007 (the previous low was in January 2010 when 39% liked the party and 57% disliked it, giving a net score of 18).
31% say that they like Reform UK, compared with 57% who do not, slightly better than June 2024, when 27% liked the party, and 62% did not.
28% each like the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats, with 43% each saying they do not like these parties, a fall for both since June 2024, when 38% liked the Greens and 35% the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservative party continues to be the least liked party, with 24% saying they like the party and 58% disliking it. The party’s worst score was in June 2024, when the same number, only 24%, said they liked the party, but even more (72%) said they disliked it.
“Our latest Ipsos Political Monitor shows that Keir Starmer is grappling with a significant likeability deficit, with a mere 20% of Britons backing the Prime Minister, the lowest for any party leader, compared with 34% who like the Labour party,” said Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos.
Skinner noted it is actually fairly common for Labour leaders to be less liked than their party, but the difference this time is that both are now in trouble, with Jeremy Corbyn being the only Labour leader to be disliked this much, and the party’s likeability even lower than its previous nadir under Gordon Brown after the financial crash.
“Any potential rival to the PM would need to demonstrate not just how they personally would be more liked, but how they could bring the party’s reputation up too.”
“The one comfort for Labour is that even though their party is receiving a historically low likeability score, it is still more liked than the other parties, reflecting the fragmented political scene.”
Skinner adds that the Conservatives remain the least liked party, albeit has shed some of the active dislike it received before the election, while Reform UK tends to divide opinion with their own supporters very positive about both party and leader, but other party supporters dislike both too.
“Meanwhile, the Greens and LibDems are not as disliked but have large proportions of don’t knows too. This all suggests that Britons, pessimistic about the state of the country, also lack confidence in any of the parties at the moment,” he said.
