Keir Starmer scores a comparatively good -18
With the election campaign now all but over and very little chance left to influence the outcome, Rishi Sunak may be coming to regret his decision to stand in the rain in late May and call a vote several months earlier than he was required to.
Having initially seen his favourability ratings tick upwards, opinion towards Sunak then reverted. Opinion towards Sunak now stands almost exactly where it was before the election campaign, with 20% of Britons having a favourable view of the prime minister compared to 73% with an unfavourable view. This gives a net favourability rating of -53, a rating that matches Boris Johnson’s worst ever showing, and is close to Jeremy Corbyn’s lowest ebb of -55.
The Conservative party is now almost identically unpopular, with 19% having a positive opinion of the Tories compared to 73% with a negative view, for a net score of -54.
Keir Starmer, who will now almost certainly be prime minister on Friday, remains substantially more popular (less unpopular) than his Tory rival. One in three Britons (36%) have a favourable view of the Labour leader, but most (54%) still maintain an unpopular opinion. These ratings are likewise largely indistinguishable from the last poll we ran prior to the election being called.
In fact, the only party leader whose favourability ratings have ended up in a much better place over the course of the campaign are Ed Davey’s. The Lib Dem leader has been on a six week long stunt session, having been snapped falling off paddle boards, bungee jumping and bodyboarding among other activities.
The number of people with a favourable view of Davey has doubled from 15% one week into the campaign to 30% as it drew to a close. Depending on when you want to start counting, there has either been an eight point increase in his unpopularity since the last pre-campaign poll (in October), or a one point increase since the first time we asked about him during the campaign (in late May).
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