Keir Starmer’s figures remain slightly up from last month, Nigel Farage’s slightly down, and Elon Musk has become more unpopular still
Keir Starmer favourability, March 2025
Keir Starmer’s favourability ratings ticked upwards in between mid-February and early March, likely as a result of his successful visit to Washington DC and/or his handling of relations with Ukraine, following Donald Trump’s public scolding of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
Starmer’s numbers are largely unchanged since our early March poll, however, with almost one in three Britons (32%) have a positive opinion of the prime minister. This nevertheless represents his best figure since September of last year, and is up six points from mid-February. That said, almost twice as many people still hold a negative view of Starmer (60%).
Among Labour voters, these figures are effectively reversed, with 60% having a favourable view of Starmer and 35% an unfavourable one.
Nigel Farage favourability, March 2025
At the same time that Keir Starmer’s ratings ticked up, Nigel Farage’s dipped slightly. Again, this appears to have been in response to diplomatic developments in the Ukraine conflict, and nationally Farage’s figures have remained static following that initial dip.
Currently, a little more than a quarter of Britons (27%) have a positive view of the Reform UK leader, while 65% have a negative view.
The relatively unchanging national figures do conceal fluctuation among Reform UK voters, however, with Farage’s favourability taking a knock following his row with fellow Reform MP Rupert Lowe, which saw the latter ejected from the party.
As a result of the dispute, the number of Reform UK voters with a favourable view of Farage fell from 86% to 73% - but as of our latest poll this figure has since risen again to 80%.
Kemi Badenoch favourability, March 2025
Kemi Badenoch continues to trail behind her rivals to the left and right. Only 18% of Britons have a favourable view of the Conservative leader, while 50% have an unfavourable view of her.
Badenoch has the lowest favourability among her own voters of any major party leader. Fewer than half of 2024 Conservative voters (48%) have a positive opinion of the Tory leader, although this is still higher than the 30% with a negative view of her.
Other senior UK politicians, March 2025
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is seen positively by 23% and negatively by 48%, figures which are effectively the same as last month.
Opinion of chancellor Rachel Reeves likewise remains static, with only 17% having a favourable view of her and 58% unfavourable.
With major government developments taking place including substantial welfare reform measures, as well as the abolition of NHS England, our latest poll also includes work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and health secretary Wes Streeting.
One in six Britons have a positive view of Streeting (16%), while twice as many hold a negative view (33%) – 50% answer “don’t know”.
Kendall appears to be even less well known, with only 8% having a favourable opinion, 25% an unfavourable one, and 67% unsure.
Donald Trump favourability (in the UK), March 2025
The US president remains extremely unpopular in the UK, with 78% of Britons having a negative view of Donald Trump, compared to just 16% with a positive view.
The last month saw Trump reach his highest level of unpopularity to date in the UK following the aforementioned humiliating of Ukraine’s president. This resulted in a seven point increase in unfavourable opinion to 80% in early March.
More notably, Trump’s actions turned Reform UK voters against him. While he had previously been widely popular among this group – 66% had a favourable view of him in mid-February – following the event Reform voters were more likely to have a negative view of the US president (53%) than a positive one (45%). Our latest figures remain within the margin of error of the post-meeting poll, with 48% of Reform UK voters having a favourable view of Trump, and 47% having an unfavourable view.
Elon Musk favourability (in the UK), March 2025
We last polled Elon Musk in January, in the wake of the rows he instigated over child grooming gangs in the UK. This prompted his worst ever favourability ratings in the UK, but in the time since he has become more unpopular still.
Our latest poll – the first since Donald Trump’s presidency began, in which Musk has a high-level role – shows that fully 80% of Britons now have an unfavourable opinion of the Tesla CEO. This is a nine point increase from our January survey.
Only 13% of Britons have a positive view of Musk, down from 20% two months ago.
The results also indicate that Musk may have permanently damaged his reputation among Reform UK voters. While the billionaire was popular among this group in our polling last year, his attacks on Nigel Farage in January saw the number of Reform UK voters with an unfavourable view of him shoot up, and since then this opinion has come to be the dominant one in this portion of the electorate.
Most Reform UK voters (58%) now have an unfavourable view of Elon Musk, an 18 point since January. Only 36% still have a favourable view of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) figurehead, an 11pt reduction.
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