Humiliation for Keir Starmer as PM's popularity plummets to record low in bombshell poll

Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity is as low as it has ever been, according to pollsters Ipsos. Almost half of those surveyed have an unfavourable view of the Prime Minister, barely two months after he came into office.

The company’s latest Political Pulse, taken between September 6, looks at attitudes towards various political parties and their leaders and what direction the country is going in - and makes for grim reading for the Labour leader, as well as his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

Just 32 percent of respondents see Sir Keir in a positive light, down six points compared with last month, while 46 percent have an unfavourable view (up eight points), leaving him with a net figure of -14.

The 46 percent unfavourable matches the joint-highest Sir Keir has recorded with Ipsos, just after the disastrous Hartlepool by-election in June 2021.

Meanwhile just 23 percent are favourable towards Rachel Reeves (down four points) with 44 percent unfavourable (up nine), putting her underwater by 21 points.

In terms of the Labour Party itself, 36 percent have a favourable view (down four points) and 45 percent hold an unfavourable (up eight).

Sir Keir is likely to take some comfort from the fact that favourability towards both himself and his party is unchanged from August amongst Labour supporters. For instance, 69 percent of 2024 Labour voters are favourable towards Starmer this month and 68 percent were last month.

Nevertheless, in terms of the direction of the country and government performance, 55 percent believe Britain is heading in the wrong direction (up three points from August). This is lower than the final rating recorded under the Tories before the General Election (62 percent in late June) but is higher than the first rating recorded after Labour’s victory in early July (49 percent).

This month’s survey has introduced a new question which will be tracked across the lifetime of this parliament whereby people are asked to mark the government out of 10 in terms of how they are running the country. The Labour Government’s first score is 4.4 out of 10.

There is little for the Conservative Party to celebrate either, with all four remaining candidates (Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat) in net negative territory - although between 40 and 50 percent of those surveyed do not offer an opinion either way.

Just 24 percent have a favourable opinion of the Tories as a whole (up three points) and 52 percent an unfavourable one (down five percent).

Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: "There are some early warning signs in these numbers for Keir Starmer and Labour.

"Whilst the next General Election is several years away – and perceptions of Labour remain stronger than perceptions of the Conservative Party – these figures do represent a sharp drop from those recorded in August.

"Moving forward, Labour will want to strike the right balance between setting public expectations about the pace of change whilst maintaining confidence that the change Labour supporters voted for in July is coming."

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,147 adults aged 18 and over across Great Britain. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.

Other key poll findings:

• 37 percent think Keir Starmer is likely to win the next General Election and 43 percent say he is unlikely to do so. In June just 14 percent thought Sunak was likely to win and 79 percent said he was unlikely. Back in June 2022, 30 percent thought Boris Johnson was likely to win and 59 percent said unlikely. Now, 31 percent think the next leader of the Conservative Party is likely to win the next election and 45 percent think it unlikely
  
  
• 28 percent hold a favourable opinion towards the Lib Dems (up four), with 34 percent thinking the opposite (no change)
  
  
• 30 percent are favourable towards the Greens (down one), 29 percent are unfavourable (up one)
  
  
• 28 percent are favourable towards Reform UK (up five) and 47% are unfavourable (down seven)
  
  
• 26 percent think Brexit has had a positive impact on the country and 51% say it has had a negative impact, with 19 percent thinking it has made no difference
  
  
• 39 percent support the means testing of the winter fuel allowance and 42 percent oppose. Those under the age of 55 support the measure, rather than oppose, by 46 percent to 32 percent, but 58 percent of those aged 55 and over oppose the idea