Today marks five years since Keir Starmer replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour party. Despite winning a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, many are still uncertain what the prime minister represents, whilst assessments of his time as Labour leader have become more negative.
The public are less clear of what Starmer stands for now than they were before the election
Rather than clarifying his sense of purpose, entering office appears to have only increased the public’s uncertainty about what Starmer stands for. Before the election, 42% of Britons said they had at least a broad idea of what the Labour leader stood for, compared to 49% who were unclear. Now, nine months into his premiership, just a third of Britons (33%) say they know what the prime minister stands for compared to 60% who are uncertain.
Much of this change has appears to have been driven by the shifting opinion of those who backed Starmer in 2024. Before the election, three quarters (75%) of those who intended to vote Labour said they had at least a broad idea of what its leader stood for. Today, just half (50%) of those who backed the party now say the same.
A similar story play outs when looking at individual policies. In most areas, Labour have been unable to improve the public’s understanding of their positions. The only area where there has been noticeable progress is in defence and security. Today, 39% Britons think the Labour party have a clear stance on this issue, up 18 points from two years ago.
Public perception of Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party has become more negative since 2023
Overall, Britons are now most likely to think that Starmer has been a “poor” or “terrible” leader since he first took the reins at Labour. Just under half (45%) of all Britons now hold this view, which is up 17 points since March 2023. In contrast, only 16% of Britons think he has been a “great” or “good” leader during his five years in charge (-6), whilst 30% think he has been an average leader (-4).
While many remain unclear on what Starmer stands for, the majority do recognise that he has changed his party – though more people now think those changes have been for the worse. In March 2023, just 10% of Britons felt Starmer had changed the party for the worse compared to a third (33%) who said he had changed it for the better. This sentiment has now been largely reversed.
Today, 43% of Britons think that Starmer has changed the party for the worse, compared to only 17% who feel he has changed it for the better. Among those who voted for the party just nine months ago, opinion is split, with 35% thinking he has had a negative impact on the party compared to 32% a positive one.
In the run up to last year’s general election, Starmer declared that changing the Labour party had been his driving mission since day one, but has he gone too far? The prime minister has received criticism from parts of the Labour left over the course of his premiership, with the government’s recent decision to cut welfare spending coming in for particular criticism.
One in three Britons (29%) now think the Labour leader has moved the party too far from the policies and values of Corbyn, which is up 17 points since we last asked the question in March 2023. In contrast, the number who think he has got the balance right has decreased by 10 points, to 17%.
Looking at Labour voters specifically, a plurality (38%) think Starmer has moved the party too far from the policies and values of Corbyn. This compares to one in three (29%) who think he has got the balance about right and one in nine (11%) who say he hasn’t moved far enough. In 2023, the most common answer from those who had backed the party in 2019 was that he got the balance about right (37%).
See the full results here and here
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