Keir Starmer falls to lowest net favourability rating on record, while positivity towards Nigel Farage and Reform UK rises
The last month has been an eventful one, with Reform UK’s gains in the local elections surpassing expectations and leading to Labour adopting a tougher immigration stance in an attempt to win over Reform voters. So has the public view of Britain’s major politicians and parties shifted since last month’s favourability tracker?
Keir Starmer favourability, May 2025
Just 23% of Britons now express a favourable view of the prime minister Keir Starmer, a five-point drop from this time last month and equalling his July 2021 nadir as opposition leader.
However, with the proportion of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of the Labour leader rising from 62% in mid-April to 69% today, Starmer’s net favourability rating has sunk to -46, his lowest ever recorded by YouGov.
This fall in Starmer’s popularity is concentrated among Labour voters, half of whom (50%) now have an unfavourable view of the prime minister, a 17-point increase from mid-April. The proportion with a favourable opinion has correspondingly fallen from 62% to 45% over the last month.
This is the first time Keir Starmer has recorded a net negative approval rating among Labour voters.
Nigel Farage favourability, May 2025
By contrast, opinion of Nigel Farage has improved. A third of Britons (32%) now have a favourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, up five points from mid-April and the highest YouGov has recorded for him since he took over leadership of the party last June.
Six in ten Britons (59%) still hold an unfavourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, giving him a net favourability rating of -27, up from -38 a month ago.
The boost in Nigel Farage’s popularity is more universal than the fall in Starmer’s, with his net rating improving among supporters of all major parties. This is, though, most notable with 2024 Labour voters, where his net rating now stands at -64, up from -79 this time last month.
Among those who voted for the Conservatives last year, Nigel Farage has flipped his -5 net favourability rating from last month to +5 this month. His standing with Reform UK voters has recovered from its dip after his row with Rupert Lowe in March, with 87% having a favourable opinion of the Reform leader.
Kemi Badenoch favourability, May 2025
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch continues to get less popular as her leadership progresses. Just one in six Britons (16%) have a favourable opinion of the Tory leader, the joint-lowest since she beat Robert Jenrick for the post last November, while 55% now express an unfavourable opinion of her.
This gives Kemi Badenoch a net favourability score of -39, surpassing her previous low of -38 recorded in mid-April.
Less than half of Conservative voters (48%) have a positive view of Badenoch, while 36% see the opposition leader unfavourably, up from 31% in mid-April. This gives the Tory leader a net favourability of +12 among her own voters (+12).
Ed Davey favourability, May 2025
By contrast to other major party leaders, Ed Davey’s latest favourability ratings are neither record highs nor unprecedented lows. Around a quarter of Britons (26%) have a favourable opinion of the Lib Dem leader, while a third of the public (34%) see him unfavourably, figures which are within the margin of error of last month’s poll. This gives Davey a net favourability score of -8.
The most notable shift in opinion on Ed Davey in the last month has been among Conservative voters, with the proportion of 2024 Tories with a favourable view of the Lib Dem leader rising 12 points since mid-April to 26%, while the proportion with an unfavourable view has fallen by the same amount to 48%.
In contrast to Keir Starmer, Ed Davey retains a positive net favourability rating among Labour voters (+17).
Political favourability, May 2025
Labour’s popularity hit isn’t merely limited to Keir Starmer, with worst-ever net favourability scores also recorded this month by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (-31) and home secretary Yvette Cooper (-25), while Rachel Reeves has equalled her -48 net favourability rating recorded in mid-April.
The party itself has also fallen to new depths, with 65% of Britons saying they have an unfavourable view of Labour, up from 61% in mid-April and the highest recorded since YouGov began asking this question in June 2017.
Just six in ten of those who voted Labour last July (59%) now have a favourable opinion of the party, down from 66% in mid-April. This also means that, even among their own voters, Labour are now no more popular than the Greens
The Conservatives are also struggling to maintain the enthusiasm of their own voters, with the proportion of their 2024 electorate with a favourable opinion of the party falling from 78% this time last month to 71% today. A majority of Conservative voters (53%) now have a favourable opinion of Reform UK.
With Britons as a whole, Reform UK are now seen more positively than Labour by a comfortable margin for the first time, with the 35% of the public with a positive opinion of the party up seven points from mid-April, while the 54% with an unfavourable opinion is down six points over the last month.
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Photo: Getty
