No party leader is seen favourably by more than 30% of Britons
In the aftermath of last year’s general election, roughly as many Britons had a favourable opinion of Keir Starmer as had an unfavourable one. Now, six months on, more than twice as many see the prime minister in a negative light (65%) as a positive one (27%). But how do Starmer’s favourability ratings compare to other leaders and key politicians?
While Starmer’s ratings might be relatively weak compared to some historic prime ministers at this point of their premiership, they are not out of place compared to other party leaders today. Nigel Farage’s latest figures are in a similar ballpark, with 62% of Britons holding an unfavourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, double the 30% who see him favourably.
Although fewer Britons have an unfavourable opinion of Kemi Badenoch (45%), with this down four points on last month, just one in five Britons (20%) see the Conservative leader favourably, less than the 26% who see Lib Dem leader Ed Davey in positive terms.
Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay continue to be largely unknown to the British public, with more than eight in ten Britons (81-86%) answering ‘don’t know’ when asked what they think of them.
The pattern of twice as many Britons being negative as positive towards leading politicians can also be seen with some of Starmer’s cabinet colleagues. For the 24% of Britons with a favourable opinion of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, there are 46% who see her unfavourably. Likewise, the 19% with a positive impression of home secretary Yvette Cooper are roughly half the 36% who see her negatively.
Rachel Reeves goes a little further, with her net favourability rating falling to -32, its lowest level to date. Just 19% of Britons have a favourable opinion of the chancellor, outnumbered by the 51% who see her unfavourably. Even among Labour voters, the 37% with a positive opinion of Reeves are matched by the 34% with a negative view.
Conservative counterparts follow a similar pattern. While more than three-quarters of Britons (77-80%) ‘don’t know’ how they feel about shadow chancellor Mel Stride or shadow home secretary Chris Philp, the one in six (15-17%) with an unfavourable opinion of either outnumbers the 5-6% with a favourable view of the Tory frontbenchers.
Our latest favourability survey also looked at figures embroiled in the recent child grooming gangs row, including Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson and Jess Phillips. Those scores can be seen in our wider study on the topic here.
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Photo: Getty
