One in five Britons have a favourable view of the new Tory leader, while Farage’s figures improve
With Kemi Badenoch’s recent election as Conservative leader, all parties have a permanent leader in place for the first time since the general election in July. Since then, perceptions of the leaders who remained in place have in some cases – most notably with Labour leader Keir Starmer – shifted drastically. So how do Britons currently view the full slate of party leaders?
The most popular, or arguably least unpopular, leaders are Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, who 30% of Britons have a favourable opinion of, against 61% who hold an unfavourable opinion of, and Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is seen favourably by 28% of the public and unfavourably by 61%.
Farage’s net figure of -31 is his highest net favourability score recorded with YouGov since September 2019.
While new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch does not hold the same levels of popularity, with just one in five Britons (21%) having a favourable opinion of her, this is partially a result of fewer Britons having any opinion of her either way, with a lower number of Britons also seeing Badenoch unfavourably (41%) than Farage or Starmer. This gives the new Tory leader a starting net score of -20.
Badenoch’s first favourability results as leader represent an improvement from shortly before her becoming leader, when only 12% of Britons viewed her favourably and 45% unfavourably (net score of -33).
How does Kemi Badenoch compare to other new leaders?
Britons’ first impression of Kemi Badenoch as leader is less positive than with previous new leaders for the main two parties. The 21% of Britons with a favourable view of Badenoch is noticeably lower than the proportion of the public with a positive view of her predecessors Theresa May (48%), Rishi Sunak (34%), Boris Johnson (33%) and even Liz Truss (26%) in the first YouGov polls of their leadership.
Nonetheless, fewer Britons have an unfavourable opinion of Badenoch (41%) than of Sunak (53%), Johnson (54%), or Truss (57%) when they became leaders.
Instead, four in ten Britons (39%) say they ‘don’t know’ how they feel about Badenoch, with the only other recent major leader whom the public were similarly unsure of to begin with being Keir Starmer (41%). However, one in three Britons (34%) had a favourable opinion of the now prime minister when he first became Labour leader, with just a quarter (25%) holding an unfavourable view, giving him a debut net rating of +9, compared to Badenoch’s -20.
Opinions can, of course, change, with Starmer’s net rating today standing at -33, a score effectively the same as his record low of -36 last month.
How do Britons view the main political parties?
One of Kemi Badenoch’s main challenges will be turning around the reputation of the Conservatives, who at present, are the least favourably viewed of the main parties, with only a quarter of Britons (24%) holding a positive opinion of the Tories, against two thirds (66%) with an unfavourable view.
This compares to Labour, who are seen favourably by 33% of Britons and unfavourably by 58%, and Reform UK, who 29% of Britons have a positive opinion of and 58% look at in a negative light.
The public remain more evenly split about the Lib Dems and the Greens, with just under four in ten Britons (38-39%) having a positive of either party, roughly level with the 40-42% of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of the pair.
What do you think about Kemi Badenoch, the party leaders in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
