While none of Starmer’s new ministers are viewed particularly unfavourably, ‘don’t know’ is the public’s main feeling towards them
Over the past week-and-a-half, Keir Starmer’s new cabinet have begun settling into their new roles. For many, this will include making their first lasting impressions on the public, with opinions on them solidifying as they become more regular faces on news bulletins and begin enacting policy. For now, though, most are yet to become household names and the public’s current attitudes towards much of the new government is an overwhelming if unsurprising ‘don’t know’.
To set an early baseline from which to track these developments, we have asked how the public feel about the 14 cabinet ministers likely to have the highest profiles, as well as the two notable ‘expert’ junior ministerial appointments James Timpson and Patrick Vallance.
The boost in positivity towards Keir Starmer after his landslide victory has not diminished, with 43% of Britons holding a favourable view of the new prime minister, up from the average of 37% during the campaign. A similar number (45%) hold an unfavourable view of Starmer – down from an average of 53% during the campaign – giving him a nearly neutral net score of -2.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and energy secretary Ed Miliband are the most well-known cabinet ministers after Starmer, with 32% having a positive view of Rayner and 30% of Miliband, although around four in ten (38-42%) hold an unfavourable view of each.
These three are the only figures we asked about for whom decidedly more than half of the public appear to have formed a clear view.
Among the other more high-ranking cabinet ministers, chancellor Rachel Reeves has still managed to attain a favourable view from three in ten Britons (29%), while a quarter (25%) of the public like home secretary Yvette Cooper and one in five (19%) approve of foreign secretary David Lammy and health secretary Wes Streeting. However, between 46% and 60% have no view on each of these senior Labour figures.
For the less well-known members of the cabinet, the pattern is fairly uniform – slightly more of the public have an unfavourable view of them, but most have no opinion.
The story is slightly different for our two non-cabinet additions. Prisons minister James Timpson, until recently the CEO of shoe repair firm Timpson, and science minister Patrick Vallance, who served as chief scientific adviser to the government during the COVID-19 pandemic, are still largely unknown, but are typically seen more positively (20-22%) than negatively (11-14%).
But with the majority of the public only currently having an opinion on a handful of the cabinet, it is hard to conclude anything but most ministers having something of a blank canvas to play with. Time will tell how the public reacts to their decisions and behaviour, but right now, a reaction of ‘don’t know’ is the undeniable norm.
See the full results here
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Photo: Getty
